Birthday Traditions 8
by Kate McCaye
Summary: Cassie decides to use Daniel and Sam's party to knock some sense into Jack, Sam, and maybe even Pete. The events of Reckoning and Threads interrupt, and everyone has to start over.
1. Conspiring

Title: Birthday Traditions 8

Author: Kate McCaye

Rating: T

Setting: Season 8, before Reckoning and Threads (although there might be a bit of Post-Threads at the very end.)

Summary: Cassie decides to use Daniel and Sam's party to knock some sense into Jack, Sam, and maybe even Pete.

Ch 1: Conspiring

General Jack O'Neill looked up as a familiar knock on the open door drew his attention away from the file he was reading. "Come on in, Daniel," he called.

Daniel entered, with Teal'c behind him. It was unusual, these days, for the two of them to come see him without Carter, so he closed the folder he was reading and crossed his hands on his desk as the two of them sat down, looking like they had something specific on their minds.

"What's up, guys?" Jack asked.

"We, um, wanted to talk to you," Daniel started.

"I gathered that, Danny. What is it you want to talk about?"

"Um, well. You know what next week is, right?"

Jack sighed. He should have known this was coming. "Yes, Daniel. Next week is your birthday. Yours and Carter's, who I cannot help but notice is not here, unless she's built her own personal cloaking device and failed to mention it to me."

"Right," Daniel said, shifting in his seat and looking at Teal'c.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow at Daniel, turned his attention to Jack, and said, "What are you planning for this year's festivities, O'Neill?"

"Well... Daniel, I don't want to disappoint you, but you're a big boy so I'm sure you'll understand. It's just a little too crazy around here right now for me to be planning a big party, and for all of us to be out of touch with the base for that long."

"Jack..." Daniel started.

Jack raised a hand to stave off the objections. "I'm sorry, Daniel, but there's just too much to do here. And Carter's busier than ever now anyway, I doubt we'd be able to drag her away either. _But _I would still love to take you boys out for drinks next week to celebrate your birthday, Danny."

"What about Sam?" Daniel demanded.

"She's invited, of course, and if she can come we'll celebrate hers too. But she's the only person on this base busier than me at the moment Daniel. It's not practical expecting both of us to commit to being at a party all night, plus all the planning on my part before hand."

"Last year we were about to be invaded by Anubis and his super soldiers, who at that point were still undefeatable as Sam hadn't finished the weapon yet, and you _still _managed to convince Hammond to let us all go to Disney World," Daniel reminded him.

"And aren't you glad we have those wonderful memories now that we're all buried under this mountain?"

"Yes, of course, but... what I'm saying is, if you could make time then, why not now?"

"Things are different now, Daniel."

"You mean things are different with Sam now," Daniel said bluntly.

Jack looked at him steadily. "Daniel. Drop it, please. You might not like what's happened with Carter's personal life, but it's her personal life. Not yours, or yours," he looked pointedly at Teal'c, who was remaining silent but still managing to reinforce everything Daniel was saying. "And certainly not mine," he finished. "And you might not like the way I choose to deal with things, but that's not exactly a newsflash, now is it? So, I'll ask you one more time. Please, drop it."

Daniel opened his mouth again but it was Teal'c who spoke first. "Very well, O'Neill. We will let you get back to work. Come, Daniel Jackson." He put a 'supportive' hand on Daniel's shoulder, but judging by the way Daniel was trying to hide a wince of pain, it was really more of a warning than anything else.

Daniel and Teal'c left. Jack watched them go, gave a little cough, and forced himself to get back to work.

In the hallway, Daniel shrugged out of Teal'c's grasp immediately and demanded, "What did you do that for?"

"I believe the Tau'ri expression is, 'We were speaking to a wall of bricks.'"

"Talking to a brick wall, yeah, but so what else is new. That's Jack..."

"Precisely Daniel Jackson. Which is why I believe we would accomplish our goal much faster if we enlisted someone else's assistance."

"Sam's not going to ask him to..."

"I am not speaking of Colonel Carter, Daniel Jackson, although I am speaking of another young, attractive, intelligent woman. One who can convince O'Neill to do anything, and does not take no for an answer."

Daniel thought quickly for a few seconds and finally got it. "Teal'c, you're a genius! And you're absolutely right. Come on. Let's go call Cassie."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Hey, Cass, your cell phone was ringing," Cassie's roommate called as Cassie entered their dorm room after her last class of the day.

"Hey, Aileen. Thanks." Cassie dumped her stuff in her chair and flopped down on her bed, grabbing her cell phone to see who had called. She quickly returned the call and waited impatiently for Daniel to answer.

"Daniel Jackson."

"Daniel, hey, it's Cassie, you just called?"

"Yeah, hi Cassie. How's everything?"

"Great. So what's up?"

"Right to the point, huh. Okay, well, you know next week is our birthday."

"Yup."

"Well... Jack's being... Jack. He's making up excuses about having too much to do at the SGC to organize a party and all that, but really we think..."

"It's because Sam's marrying the doorknob, right?" Cassie interrupted.

"Right," Daniel said, laughing. "So, anyway, we tried to talk to him about it but of course he wouldn't even listen. So we figured it was time to call the expert."

"Don't worry about it, Daniel, I'll take care of everything," Cassie promised.

"Are you sure? I know you're busy with school..."

"This is just as important to me as it is to you guys. This could get ugly though, I'm warning you. If I do this we're going to be giving them both huge wake-up calls too glaringly obvious for them to ignore, okay?"

"Sounds good to me," Daniel said quickly. "Do whatever you have to do."

"Okay. Let me do a little planning before I call Jack. I'll talk to you later. Say hi to T for me."

"Will do. Bye, Cass. Thank you."

Cassie hung up her cell phone and turned to her roommate, who was watching her curiously. "What the hell are you planning?" she asked.

"Aileen, you're going to have the room to yourself next weekend. I'm going home."

"To do what?" Aileen asked with a smile, knowing it had to be something good.

"Let's just say I'll be playing 'Parent Trap.'"

"Ooh, sounds like fun. Hayley Mills or Lindsey Lohan?"

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Come on, do you even have to ask? Hayley Mills, no contest. And you're going to help me with a few preliminary details..."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Jack squinted at his computer screen and tried to focus. He was fairly certain that in the months since he'd taken over command of the SGC, he had read so many files and spent so long staring at a computer screen that he was going to need reading glasses when his next physical came round.

The phone rang, providing a much-welcome distraction. "O'Neill," he answered.

"Hi, Jack," a familiar, cheerful voice said over the phone.

"Cassie! Hi, how are you?"

"I'm good. How are you?"

"Just peachy."

"You're working late."

"Always. What's up?"

"Well, Aileen, Ashley, and I were shopping today and I saw something awesome to get Sam for her birthday, and that reminded me that I have no idea what the plans are this year. Next weekend, right? I kind of need to know so I can get all my schoolwork out of the way during the week."

"Kid, I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner," Jack said, grimacing. "We're not going to be able to have a party this year. But I'm sure Carter would love to see you anyway..."

"What do you mean, no party?"

"We're just really busy right now, there's just not enough time..."

"I can help you get everything organized, so you don't have to do it all by yourself."

"Nah, I know how busy you are, Cass, it's not a big..."

"Yes it is, Jack!" Cassie put on her best whiny voice and took a deep breath, winking at Aileen, who was watching the entire performance. "It _is _a big deal, Jack, it's huge. This is like our only real family tradition. Even when Daniel was gone you didn't let it end, now you're going to let a bunch of lousy paperwork ruin everything? I've been looking forward to this for a long time, coming home to see everybody... I know I haven't been home much, because it's just so much easier not to think about Mom when I'm here, in a completely separate environment, but I'm finally okay with the idea of coming home just to you guys and I was really looking forward to seeing _all _of you..." That part at least didn't have to be faked.

Jack sighed heavily. "Cassie, I love it that you want to come home, but you can just come, you don't need an excuse..."

"It's not an excuse, Jack, and it's not just about Sam and Daniel's birthday... it's never been just about that, and you _know _it. Please, Jack? I swear I'll do everything if you want, you won't have to do anything but show up, okay?"

Jack took a deep breath, knowing he was going to regret doing this. But how could he refuse the pleading tone of her voice? "All right, Cass. You don't have to do everything, but I will take you up on the offer of help."

"You mean it? Oh, that's wonderful, Jack, thank you so much, you won't regret it. It'll be so much fun and I'll help with whatever you want, and it'll be great! You sounded so tired when I first called, Jack, I really think you need this party just as much as Sam and Daniel..."

"Cassie, slow down a second, okay? Look, if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do it right," Jack said seriously.

"Of course, we'll have to decide if we're going to have a theme or..."

"Not just that. I'm talking about Pete. Cass... we have to invite him. And make sure Carter knows he's _actually _welcome."

Cassie grinned, remembering her recent Christmas behavior. She had stubbornly refused to stay at Sam's as long as Pete was there, and had actually gone to great lengths to avoid meeting him at all. She couldn't believe Sam had agreed to marry that guy... of course, she had heard from Daniel how it had taken her a long time to say 'yes,' and how she still didn't seem very excited about it, but still... Cassie had never had any desire to be in the same room with Pete. Unfortunately, the avoidance strategy clearly wasn't working.

Cassie was determined now to meet the problem head on. It was actually crucial to her plan that Pete come to the party. Force Jack and Pete together and show Sam once and for all what was blatantly obvious to everyone else (and what, Cassie was positive, Sam already knew and was choosing to ignore), that Pete Shanahan just couldn't hold a candle to Jack O'Neill.

But Jack wasn't to know any of that. At least not yet. And if she agreed right away, he would be onto her in a second. She had to act like she normally would. "Jaaaaaaaaack," she whined dramatically. "Why do we have to invite Pete, why can't it just be the family?"

"Pete is _going _to be part of your family, Cassie. I'm really sorry you don't want him around, but he's part of Carter's life and so are you. You can't avoid him forever."

"Fine!" she said loudly. "Invite Pete, see if I care! But I'm staying at your house again, there's no way I'm going to sleep at Sam's if _he's _going to be there!"

"That sounds like a reasonable compromise," Jack said. "I'll get your room ready."

"Don't worry about me. I'll call you later when I start gathering ideas, okay? Jack? This is going to be fun, I promise." Cassie winced as she said it. Most likely, parts of this party were definitely going to be the exact opposite of fun. But it was for a good cause.

"I'm sure it will," Jack said somewhat dryly. "Bye, Cassie."

"Bye, Jack. See you soon!"

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Cassie hung up the phone and grinned triumphantly at Aileen. "Piece of cake. Speaking of which, let's get to planning some of those details."

"Fill me in on this whole big history first though, so I can actually help. I know Sam's your godmother and Jack's your godfather, so... you're trying to get them back together?"

"Sort of... it's complicated," Cassie said. "See, technically they were never really even together, but to the rest of us, they were sort of... always a couple. Just a couple that couldn't actually be together. But the idea of either of them with someone else... it was just ridiculous, you know? I think my mom knew that even when we first met them... after we moved here and all. She made them both my godparents, like she knew that they'd always be together in one way or another, even though Jack and Sam hadn't even known each other for very long at that point. It's just one of those obvious things, you know? The kind that was always way more obvious to everyone around them than it to Jack and Sam themselves."

"Wow, that's so sweet."

"Yeah. So anyway, they were never technically together because they work for the Air Force, and they're in the same chain of command, so there's all these stupid rules and regulations about that. They would get arrested and thrown out of the military if they had any sort of non-platonic relationship."

"That sucks."

"Big time," Cassie agreed. "So anyway, they all work at this base, where my mom worked too, you know, and their other best friends are these guys, Daniel and Teal'c."

"You've talked about them before. Teal'c's from Africa?"

"Yeah, that's why he's got an unusual name. I always kind of thought of them like uncles. Anyway, after they all got transferred to that base and met and became friends and all, they found out that Daniel and Sam have the same birthday. Just a weird coincidence. But Jack was always joking that Daniel and Sam were the 'science twins' long before they knew they really do have the same birthday, so it sort of became this thing. He threw them a birthday party one year, like they were little kids. He's like the toughest, bravest man I know, but he still can be really thoughtful and sweet too, he just doesn't like anyone to give him any credit for it, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"So, anyway, it became this thing, every year we have a birthday party for them. And there's usually a theme and all... then, okay, the... third year, yeah, third year, because I was thirteen, we were at this place we always used to go called O'Malleys, like a bar and grill with pool tables and everything. And I went to the bathroom and caught Jack and Sam in there kissing."

"In the women's room?"

"Yup. And not just a friendly peck, full-on _kissing _kissing. Anyway, Sam told me that it was actually their own private tradition... apparently the first year, they kissed at the end of the party and decided that if it was strictly a birthday thing, it would be okay once a year, every year. Sort of a compromise, I guess, so that they didn't have to worry about military regulations but didn't have to pretend there was absolutely nothing between them."

"Cassie... this is like a movie or something!"

"I know. Believe me, when I found out, I blackmailed them both for years. I made Jack teach me how to drive his truck when I was about fourteen, I made Sam take me to get my belly-button pierced... I was terrible."

"Well, how could you pass up a chance like that?"

"Exactly! So anyway, last year was a huge celebration. Sam and Daniel took a vacation to Disney World, and the rest of us joined them at the weekend. It was so great. It was right before my mom died, and I always... I've always been really thankful that Jack gave us all that trip together."

"Wow. So, you're the only one who knows that they kiss every year?"

"Not anymore. At first I was, but then I found out that Teal'c already knew too. And Daniel found out last year, and he told my mom when he realized she was the last one who didn't know. So now, Sam knows that everyone knows, but Jack doesn't know that Daniel knows. Or that my mom knew."

"This is so complicated!"

"It gets worse. Sam is engaged. To this absolute... dork. I don't know, I guess there's probably nothing really wrong with him, he's just such a... a goober. And of course, his main problem is that he's not Jack."

"So why is she..."

"I have no idea. Nobody knows. I know last year, there was a big thing about them kissing, because she had just started to date Pete. I don't know all the details, just that she swore to him it wasn't serious with Pete and they kissed anyway. But since then... well, I really have no idea. I mean, everything was so crazy, with my mom dying right when I was about to graduate... everything else just got pushed to the side for a long time."

"Well, of course, I mean, it's your mom."

"But lately, I don't know. I've been thinking. I really think that if my mom were alive, Sam wouldn't be marrying Pete. She works on a military base, without Mom there, and with me here, she has no girlfriends to talk to. And I know that my mom would have made her realize a long time ago that Pete is just a waste of time. So, I kind of feel like it's my job now."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to help Jack throw a great birthday party. I'm going to update Sam and Daniel's photo albums for them and leave them out where Pete can see them. There are some pictures in there of Jack and Sam that it's impossible to look at and not see how crazy about each other they are. For their gifts from me, I'm going to make them new photo albums just about our vacation to Disney World. My mom and I hit this scrapbooking store at Downtown Disney, and it was going to be our project. I haven't been able to do it by myself, but if you'll help me with it I'm ready now."

"Of course I'll help you, Cass."

"Thanks. I'm going to set the scene perfectly, so that even someone as numbskulled as Pete Shanahan will be able to see that he's trying to walk into the middle of a family. We're not related by blood but we're all a lot closer than most real families. And he's going to see that he's never going to fit in, that it's not just Sam's professional life that will never be accessible to him; her personal life won't either."

"Sounds good."

"Daniel and Teal'c will help me, although Teal'c will do it very subtly... but I think they've both had about as much of this Pete Shanahan thing as they can take too. But if you're not doing anything next weekend, I'd really appreciate it if you would go with me, Aileen."

"Really? But it's your family, Cassie..."

"I know, but Pete's going to be there. And I really want you to meet them all anyway. Besides, you'll be a huge help."

"I would like to meet your godparents, and see what you've been talking about for myself."

"Awesome! The only thing is, their base has a bunch of top secret stuff they can't talk about, so just don't ask them any questions about work, or they'll just make up some dumb cover story anyway."

Aileen shrugged. "Why would I want to ask them questions about where they work? Sounds like there'll be much more interesting things going on."

"Most definitely," Cassie agreed.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Okay, Jack, do you have a specific theme you want this year, for the party?"

"Not really," Jack said into the phone, picking at his lunch as he talked.

"Well, I was thinking maybe since Daniel missed out on a normal college experience, and you've already sort of made up for his lack of childhood with other parties, we could do a college-type party this year."

"Cass, I don't think..."

"I'm thinking a toga party," Cassie said quickly.

"Cassie! I'm not parading around in a toga. Besides, there will only be... six people there! That's hardly enough for a rave or whatever you're into these days."

"Hmm, I guess you're right. Okay, then just a nice, grown-up party?"

"That sounds more like it," Jack approved.

"How about a costume party?" Cassie suggested quickly.

Jack sighed. "Fine, whatever. I'll order the cakes and buy the decorations. When are you and your friend getting here?"

"Late Friday afternoon," Cassie told him. "That'll give us Friday and Saturday to get ready for it. And Aileen and I will take care of all the shopping, putting up the decorations, and everything. You won't have to do anything you don't have time for."

"All right, Cass. I really do appreciate the help, you know. Sorry I've been kind of... not into the party this year, it's just..."

"I understand, Jack," Cassie said quietly.

"Yeah, I know you do, kid. I'll see you Friday, okay?"

"Bye, Jack. I love you."

"Love you too. Bye." Jack hung up the phone and smiled as the rest of his team entered his office with their lunch trays.

He avoided the commissary whenever he could now, as people were constantly coming up to him with requests while he tried to eat. Not wanting this to mean he missed out on seeing his team, they had quickly started having lunch with him in his office several days a week.

"Were you just on the phone, sir?" Carter asked as she took a seat.

"Yup. Talking to my party planner."

Carter's eyes widened and she looked at Daniel, smiling and looking surprised. Daniel smiled back. "Your party planner?" Carter asked. "Would that be Cassie by any chance, sir?"

"Yes, that's what it says on her business card. She's expensive and pushy but she does know what she's doing."

Carter and Daniel laughed. "So... what's the theme for this year?" Daniel asked.

"Surprise for you two, Danny boy," he said, pointing his fork at both of them. "You oughta know that by now. And Cassie's bringing her roommate, and Carter, I assume you're bringing Pete, so if you two boys can trick some women into coming with you, go right ahead," Jack added casually. He couldn't quite look Carter in the eyes as he said it, but he did manage to look her in the forehead.

"Very funny Jack," Daniel said sarcastically. He knew Jack was just saying it to take the focus off the Pete issue, and therefore refrained from bringing up the fact that actually, of the three men in the room, Jack was the one with the incredibly long dry-spell running. That would just draw everyone's attention _back _to the Pete issue once again, and make the entire lunch awkward.

"Sir, it's nice of you to invite Pete, but I don't know if he'll be in town next weekend," Carter started.

"I believe you told me that he would be here the next three weekends in a row, Colonel Carter," Teal'c said casually, his tone not betraying the fact that he knew damn well what he was doing.

"Thanks, Teal'c," Carter said, smiling at him with clenched teeth. "I had forgotten."

"Great," Jack said with about ten times as much enthusiasm as he truly felt. "So, looks like he'll be able to make it after all!"

"Yeah, great," Carter said, stabbing moodily at the thing on her plate that the commissary laughingly called lasagna.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Oh God, Cassie, this is _really _wicked, are you sure about this?" Aileen asked as she and Cassie were busy making plans for the party.

"Absolutely... hey, it could be worse. We could tell _him _it's a costume party when it's not and have him show up in some ridiculous outfit while everyone else is dressed to the nines... but that's been done before, hasn't it?"

"Yes. I think maybe we've watched 'Bridget Jones' too many times," Aileen commented.

"Nah, that's impossible. Anyway, we'll just conveniently forget to pass on to Pete that it's a costume party. Then he shows up in his normal, boring clothes and everyone else is dressed up... ooh, let's pick really masculine costumes for all the guys, to intimidate him extra."

"And then we should conveniently have a few odds and ends lying around to help him fashion a last-minute costume, if he wants, but have really terrible things that'll make him look completely ridiculous," Aileen suggested.

"God, that's brilliant!"

"Thanks. And we have to pick a really great outfit for your godmother too."

"Yeah... but it can't be _too _obvious that's what we're doing. It's got to look like we didn't plan this all quite so carefully. Oh, and whatever we pick has to go with a tiara. Jack always makes her wear a tiara, and Daniel's got a top hat. But I think he'll be switching hats, because I've got the perfect costume for him."

"Ooh, what is it?"

"Remember Brad, at the Kappa costume party?"

"Oh yeah," Aileen said, smiling fondly at the memory.

"We're going to borrow his whip."

"Awesome. Is your godfather going to be okay with us doing this to Pete?"

"We're not going to tell him. He always want to surprise Daniel and Sam with the theme of the party, so hopefully it won't even occur to him that that means Pete will be out of the loop. And by the time he figures it out, the party will be under way and there won't be anything he can do about it. Besides, he might scold us but I guarantee you he'll actually think it's hilarious."

"Okay. So what sort of costume should we get for him?"

"That's a tough one, it's got to be perfect... something that will really grab Sam's attention, and intimidate the crap out of Pete at the same time... we're going to have to think about that one."

"Okay, what about Teal'c?"

"You've never seen Teal'c. He could look intimidating in a tutu." Aileen laughed as Cassie continued. "Of course, we won't make him try. I'll just ask Teal'c what he wants to be and see if he needs help. His biceps are like bigger than my body, so like I said, it doesn't much matter what he actually wears. He's obsessed with Star Wars, so I'm guessing he'll pick something from there. Now, about Jack..."

"Is there some specific get-up we could put him in that would really grab your godmother's attention?" Aileen tried.

"Hmm, I don't know. The thing with Jack and Sam is, it doesn't really matter _what _they're wearing, they're pretty much always checking each other out when they think nobody's looking."

"_How _old did you say they are?"

"Yeah, I know, it's kind of weird, but it's cute. See, the problem is, if we're trying to make him look all manly and stuff, well, she sees that all the time. I think she likes him best in his BDUs... Air Force uniform," Cassie explained. "But we can't have him just wear that... although the stars on it probably would intimidate Pete... but no, we need to show that he's threatening _apart _from the uniform too. And we can't have him look silly at all."

"This _is _hard."

"She likes it when he gets dressed up," Cassie said thoughtfully. "Because it's such a rare occurrence..."

Aileen picked up a picture off of Cassie's desk, of all of SG1 plus the Fraisers, and studied it curiously. "Does he have a tux?" she asked.

"That's a good idea... he could be James Bond or... somebody else in a tux. But no, is putting him in a tux a little bit too obvious, with the whole, 'Hey, marry this guy instead,' thing? Sam is like one of the smartest people on the planet, despite how dense she is about her own love life. I really don't want her to figure out we're behind all this or she'll just dig her heels in about Pete even harder."

"Cassie, this is starting to sound impossible! How are we supposed to think of a costume that's hot, not silly at all, and more masculine than an Air Force officer in uniform..."

"I don't know," Cassie admitted. "We'll have to think about this some more. Let's take a break from Jack's costume and think about Sam's. I'm thinking we want her to look great, obviously, but we also want her to be a little bit uncomfortable. Not wearing something she herself would have chosen. That way, if she's already physically uncomfortable, it will heighten how uncomfortable the situation with Pete and Jack is."

Aileen nodded. "I really don't think that your godparents would approve of the way you're using your psychology classes against them," she said, laughing as she went to their mini-fridge for a drink.

Cassie laughed. "Well, it _is _for their own good. Okay, we can deal with them later."

"Sounds good. Now, what are _we _going to wear?"

"Ooh, good question. Aileen?"

"Yeah?"

"This is going to work," Cassie declared confidently. "And it's also going to be a hell of a lot of fun."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

A/N: I'm beginning to post this literally right after finishing the first chapter, so updates will unfortunately not be as fast as I normally like, but I'll do my best. I've already got pretty firm ideas about costumes for each character, but I'm definitely open to any great ideas I've overlooked.


	2. Preparing

A/N: I have to say, your overwhelming enthusiasm for this story and the party idea have made me write much faster (and more!) than I would have thought under the circumstances. I really appreciate everyone's costume ideas. Many of them were things I seriously considered as well, although I was surprised by how many people wanted to see Jack as a gladiator or wearing a kilt! Everyone was spot on with Teal'c and Daniel, of course. Maybe this story will inspire some of you to write your own costume/Halloween stories - I really do like the 'Wizard of Oz' costumes for our group, but I just couldn't justify it being something _Cassie _would pick for them in this particular situation - I'm not sure if she would really get the joke, as that's a specifically SG1 thing, plus she's excluding Pete, but I thought that would be a little too obvious, having Sam and Jack in correlating costumes of any sort. The costume I _did _finally choose for Sam was actually my ten year-old step-son's idea. I liked it and gave what I had planned for Sam to Cassie instead. When I asked him, he picked similar costume ideas for all of them as you all did, but then I asked him if _he _were dressing them up, what would he do... and this is what he chose for Sam (after poking around for a bit in our costume closet - the husband teaches and occasionally directs Shakespeare.) The child has the biggest crush on Carter, it's so adorable. Anyway... after that long-winded explanation, please enjoy this long (but hopefully not long-winded) chapter!

Also, for those concerned about Pete, I really don't think he's a bad guy either, and completely agree that it's not his fault he isn't Jack. Don't worry. I'll let Cassie get away with a little bit of fun and return him more-or-less unharmed to his original Peteness. After all, he has to appear in 'Threads' so he can meet Dad and all... oh, and sorry, but Kerry couldn't be in this story because Sam doesn't even know who she is when she sees her in Jack's office...

Enough of that. Sorry. Story, now.

Ch 2: Preparing

Cassie and Aileen pulled into the driveway of Jack's house Friday evening around five. Dragging the huge box of costumes they had accumulated, after raiding their stash from various parties over the year, as well as borrowing a few things from friends, they made their way inside, Cassie letting them in with her key.

"Jack! You home?" Cassie called loudly. "We're here!"

When nobody answered, she shrugged. "Guess he's still at work. That's good, we can get started. I need to snoop in his closet a little bit... Let's take this up to my room." They took their bags and the costume box up to her room, which had always just been a guest room, until the (she readily admitted) juvenile tantrum she had thrown at Christmas that had resulted in her 'move' from Sam's house to Jack's.

Cassie looked around and smiled, glad to be back. Her eyes settled on a big bunch of daisies in a vase on the desk, with a note propped up next to it. She smiled at the flowers and picked up the note, read it quickly, and pocketed the money that was tucked inside before turning to Aileen. "Jack's going to be late tonight. He left pizza money."

"That was nice of him."

"Yeah. Okay, I'd better go let the dog in. I'll try to keep her from knocking you over..." Cassie went to the back door and let Maggie, Jack's Golden Retriever, inside. The dog, whom Cassie had taken care of frequently when SG-1 was off-world, had missed her terribly and bounded around her enthusiastically for several minutes, licking whatever part of her she happened to catch and wagging not only her tail, but her whole back half as well.

Eventually she noticed that someone else was in the room as well, and after sniffing Aileen cautiously, she decided she was okay too. "We probably smell similar since we live together," Cassie said absently as Aileen petted Maggie. "Don't worry, Mags, we brought a costume for you too so you won't be left out of the party tomorrow. Okay, let's go. We can bring Maggie with us since she's so excited, I don't want to turn around and leave her all alone right away."

"Where are we going?"

"We have to sneak into Daniel's apartment and get some of his clothes," Cassie said matter-of-factly. "And then stop at Sam's too for a couple of things."

"Oh, of course we do," Aileen said sarcastically, following her back out the door.

An hour later, they returned to Jack's house with the things they had snagged on their little pilfering raid. They ordered pizza, and spent the night going over plans for the following day and watching movies, while Cassie added pictures to Sam and Daniel's photo albums.

When they went to bed, Jack still wasn't home, but he had called around nine to tell them something had come up and he'd be home very late.

"He _is _busy," Aileen commented as they went to bed.

"Yeah... I'm actually kind of worried about him. I mean, his job's always been really stressful and everything, but since he was put in charge of their entire base, it's just gotten worse."

"So you think maybe if his personal life was less stressful he'd be happier?" Aileen asked.

"I think we _all _would be happier," Cassie said firmly as she turned off the bedside lamp.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Jack let himself sleep fairly late on Saturday morning, but when he got up around nine he was still the only one moving about his house, aside from Maggie. He had just finished mixing chocolate chip pancakes (something Cassie had quickly discovered she loved about Earth,) when Cassie stumbled sleepily into the kitchen in her pajamas, followed by another girl that Jack knew had to be Cassie's age but really looked like she couldn't be more than fourteen, at least in the huge t-shirt and sleeping pants she was wearing.

She was cute, with really dark auburn hair that was almost as messy as Cassie's 'just out of bed' hairstyle. Jack knew, from conversations with Cassie, that Aileen was a part-time bartender. He tried to picture the tiny girl in front of him handling herself (and rowdy, drunk college students and other patrons) in a bar and very nearly laughed.

"Hi, Jack!" Cassie said enthusiastically when she spotted him, coming over to give him a hug. He hugged her back and ruffled her hair, figuring she couldn't object since it was already pretty messy anyway.

"Morning, kids. Sleep okay?"

"Yup. Jack, this is Aileen. Aileen, this is my sort-of kind-of adopted Dad, General Jack O'Neill."

"Nice to meet you, General O'Neill. Thanks for inviting me."

"Sure. Nice to meet you too. Just call me Jack. Do you like pancakes?"

"Absolutely."

"Good. So, Cassie, you've got me mildly scared to death that you've brought reinforcements for the party this year... what _exactly _are you planning?"

"Nothing bad, Jack," Cassie said mildly, getting coffee for herself and a soda for Aileen, who didn't drink coffee but hardly ever could be found without a can of soda in her hand. The two girls exchanged significant looks - they had already decided that while Jack would surely tell Aileen to address him informally, when Pete was around, it couldn't hurt to remind everyone that he was a General.

"Right," Jack said. "And I'm supposed to just go along with whatever insane costume you've brought for me?"

"Well, actually, we've got a few choices for you. We couldn't really decide on anything definite for you. I mean, Sam and Daniel were a piece of cake, and Teal'c is taking care of his own..."

"God help us all," Jack said dryly, flipping a pancake up in the air.

"Was that..." Aileen started to ask.

"A bunny," Cassie supplied, nodding. "Jack's always been rather creative in the breakfast department. One time he spelled out my name in pancake batter... I think I was sick by the time I was done."

"Yeah, you were. You threw up in my truck when I was driving you home. As I recall, your mother was less than amused."

"Oh, yeah," Cassie remembered.

Aileen laughed. "Yes, I'm fully acquainted with Cassie's oversensitive stomach," she put in, then suddenly clammed up, glancing at Jack nervously.

"It's okay, Jack knows I'm having fun at school, don't you, Jack?"

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled. "And I'm perfectly okay with it," he said in a complete monotone.

Cassie laughed and started getting plates and silverware out of the cupboard.

"So, what do you have planned for the birthday boy and girl? Something geeky?" Jack asked. "You gonna make one of them a proton, one a neutron, bind them together with a hula hoop and make them walk around as Hydrogen all night?" he guessed, making both girls laugh.

"Not exactly," Cassie and Aileen said at the same time, glancing at each other.

"Let me guess, I get to be surprised along with everyone else?"

"Yup," Cassie said.

While they ate breakfast they divided up everything that needed to be done that day to get ready for the party. For the decorations, they were attempting to turn Jack's house into Oz. It took a lot of creative thinking from everybody involved.

All three of them spent a long time blowing up tons of balloons with helium, using the leftover helium to make themselves sound like chipmunks of course.

Jack went out to pick up the cake, and when he came back he glanced out his kitchen window and did a double-take. Cassie was rolling around in his backyard, on the ground, wearing a big once-white shirt over her clothes, while Aileen supervised this strange procedure and Maggie jumped around Cassie excitedly.

When they came back inside, laughing and examining the now dirty shirt critically, they froze as they saw Jack staring at them. "Oh, um, this is..." Cassie started.

"Isn't that Daniel's shirt?" Jack asked, recognizing it.

"Yes," Cassie said. "And he's going to wear it tonight."

"He's going to kill you too," Jack commented. "What, is he supposed to be a guy who's never showered or something?"

"Just wait," Cassie said. "We're going to go get dressed now, then we'll be ready to show you your costume choices. By the time you're ready, Teal'c should be here. Sam and Daniel are showing up in their regular clothes after that, and then we can get started."

"Great."

While Cassie and Aileen went off to get themselves dressed, Jack finished up the things for the party. He had been exaggerating to Daniel, Teal'c, and Cassie, of course, but not completely lying. He wouldn't have had time this year to do this all by himself. He wondered if Carter was as nervous about the different ways the night could go as he was.

Actually, he decided as he started setting up the serving chafers he had made Walter track down, he wasn't really nervous... he had a pretty good idea what tonight was going to be like (probably similar to a trip to the dentist), and while he did sincerely hope that Carter had fun on her birthday, he knew he wouldn't be able to say the same for himself this year.

It had been hard, but he could honestly say that he had treated the entire Pete Shanahan situation (so far at least) with incredible patience and maturity that he would never have believed himself capable of. He had done nothing, which was the exact opposite of every natural impulse he had ever had about anything, in his life.

He couldn't stand doing nothing, whether in the field or when he was stuck in his office on the base while his team was out being shot at on other planets... his first instinct was always to do _something, _even if it seemed rash, stupid, or unlikely to work. Which it usually was.

The fact that following those instincts had kept him and his team alive for eight years didn't change the fact that when it came to whatever it was he and Carter had, or had begun to have, between them over the years, he was determined to keep rash, stupid, and unlikely to work completely out of the equation.

So... why in the hell had he agreed to this party idea in the first place?

"Jack, we're ready!" Cassie called from the top of the stairs.

Oh, yeah. That was why.

Jack took a deep breath. This party was important to Cassie too, and he decided then and there that he was going to put everything he had into making it successful. Apart from being important to Cassie, he knew, with a sad feeling of finality as the thought occurred to him, that if Sam married Pete Shanahan, this was going to be the last birthday party he'd ever throw for his science twins.

"Jack, come on! Maggie, go get your dad."

Jack's dog came bounding down the stairs, in that nearly-out-of-control way that most large dogs descended staircases. It was always a marvel to Jack that she never just tripped and rolled all the way down to the bottom.

Jack laughed when she jumped at him, wagging her tail and smiling (yes, his dog smiled all the time.) "So, you got dressed up too, Mags!" he said, petting her carefully without disturbing the glittery angel wings strapped to her back, or the halo firmly secured underneath her chin. His dog, surprisingly, didn't seem to mind wearing either.

Jack followed Maggie back upstairs, where Cassie and Aileen were waiting. He looked at their costumes, which seemed rather elaborate to him for a party whose guest list was six people and a dog. Cassie was dressed as a hippie, in long powder blue boots, a short, shiny white skirt that made Jack want to go find a huge pair of overalls and force her into them, (or maybe snowpants... that could work...) and a shirt with so many colors and patterns it made him dizzy to look at. Her long hair was flatter and straighter than usual, she had on a weird headband and a lot of big clunky jewelry, and the typical makeup to go along with the whole getup.

"Please tell me that is _just _a costume," he said. "That you didn't have that skirt and those boots just lying in your closet."

"Okay, Jack," Cassie said easily, neither confirming or denying his suspicions.

He sighed. "What, you couldn't find another one like that?" he asked, pointing at Aileen, who was wearing a poodle skirt, white shirt, and Keds, with her hair up in a really high ponytail.

"Jack," Cassie sighed. "You're such a... a _Dad!_" She smiled when she said it though, which Jack hated to admit, made him feel pretty good.

Then he realized this person was about to be putting him into a costume he still had never laid eyes on, and the feeling passed.

She grabbed his arm and steered him into his bedroom. "Okay, we have two ideas for you. Actually, we went through a looooong search for a good idea for you..."

"You didn't have to do that... I've got tons of great ideas myself!" Jack said quickly. Maybe there was a way out of this after all... he hurried to his closet and pulled out a hockey jersey. "Look, instant hockey player!"

"No," Cassie said.

Jack picked up the BDUs he had come home in late last night, when he had finally been able to leave the base. "GI Joe?"

"No."

"Don't suppose you'd go for Major Matt Mason then?" he tried.

"Oh, my brother used to have all of his things!" Aileen said. "But... it's not really the type of costume we had in mind, General."

"Dare I ask..."

Cassie tossed him a white shirt and a pair of black pants and said, "Try those on."

He held up the shirt and eyed it skeptically. "This shirt... is... _puffy._" He glared at the girls and picked up the pants, which, as he held them up, he couldn't help but notice were several inches too short. "These are short pants."

"They go with this stuff," Cassie explained, dumping out a small bag of items on his bed. He glanced down. Red scarves, a cummerbund looking-thing, an eye-patch... "No," he said firmly. "I'm not being a pirate."

Cassie sighed and turned to Aileen. "Told you he wouldn't go for it."

"Okay, Plan B," Aileen said, gathering up the pirate stuff.

"Okay, Jack, this is your last option then. Go put on your tux, everything but the jacket."

"What am I gonna be a waiter or something?"

"Not exactly."

"James Bond?" he guessed. That wouldn't be so bad... "Bond. James Bond." he said in his Sean Connery imitation. Cassie groaned. Aileen giggled. "I like my martinis shaken, not stirred," he tried.

"Jack, that just sounds like a speech impediment," Cassie complained. "And no, you're not being James Bond. Just get dressed and then we'll explain it to you."

She and Aileen left him alone in the room before he could ask any more questions. Grumbling to himself, he went into his closet and fought his way through a bunch of stuff to the back of it, where his seldom-used tux was, lying safely dormant in its garment bag. He pulled it out, laid it on his bed, and stripped down to his boxers and undershirt. As he pulled on the black pants, he realized he should probably put on an undershirt with sleeves. Might as well do this properly, he figured. He stopped as he caught sight of himself in the mirror. One last try...

Wiggling his toes against the carpet, he went to the door and opened it, unsurprised to find Cassie and Aileen waiting right there. They eyed him up and down. Bare feet, black pants, white 'wife-beater...' He waited for them to get it.

"Come on!" he finally exclaimed. "John McClane!"

Cassie finally got it. She rolled her eyes. "Jack, come _on..._"

"John McClane?" Aileen asked.

Jack gaped at her. "What do they teach you at that school? Die Hard? Hello? Have you never heard the sacred words 'yippee-ki-yay mutha..."

"Oh!" Aileen said, turning slightly pink as she finally got the reference.

"_Jack, _you still have to order the food and everything," Cassie reminded him.

"Fine, fine. You know, at work _nobody _orders me around," he grumped, closing the door between them before Cassie could get in a retort.

He pulled on dress shoes, a fresh undershirt, his stiff tux shirt, all those damn little onyx things... at least his tux didn't have a cummerbund. He remembered the great debate when he had bought the thing. He was pretty fond of the satiny, subtly patterned black vest that went with it instead, but a tux was a tux when it came right down to it. He left the top button open and draped the bow-tie around his neck, under the open collar, but refused to do that part up so early.

"There, happy?" he asked grumpily as he opened the door again.

"Thrilled," Cassie said dryly. "Now, you just need to add this..." Before he could jerk away she had thrown a huge black cape around his shoulders and was tying it in the front. He pulled at the sides of it awkwardly; the lining was bright red and very shiny.

"There," Cassie said when she had finished tying the thin strings in a bow. "Instant vampire. I won't even make you wear the teeth. Most vampires weren't thought to actually have them anyway, you know. Historically speaking, of course."

"Well, of course," Jack muttered, pulling at the strings. Damn. She had double-knotted them. "Okay, fine, I'm a vampire. I suppose I should be thankful you didn't make me go as something completely ridiculous, shouldn't I?"

"Yes. You look good, Jack," she assured him, patting him on the arm.

"You really do, General," Aileen agreed.

"Now, if only you'd do something about your hair..." Cassie tried. He scowled at her. "But it's fine like that," she said with a quick smile, patting his arm again. The doorbell rang and Maggie headed towards it, barking loudly. "That must be Teal'c!" Cassie said excitedly, hurrying after Maggie. Jack made a dramatic sweeping gesture with his cape for Aileen to go first. Laughing, she went down the stairs after Cassie. Jack followed them and shook his head with a smile when he reached the living room.

He should have known Teal'c would pick something from 'Star Wars.' Although, Jack would have probably guessed he'd go with Darth Vader... but Jack supposed the Jedi get-up Teal'c was wearing probably reminded him of the Chulak attire a little bit. He looked oddly _comfortable _dressed as a Jedi.

"Teal'c, my man! Where's your light saber!" Jack called as he crossed the living room.

On cue, Teal'c pulled a concealed, retracted child's light saber from inside his robes and flicked it so that it was suddenly over three feet long. "It is here, O'Neill. Are you a bullfighter?"

"No! Ohfercryinoutloud, Cassie..." Jack complained. Cassie and Aileen were laughing.

"He's a vampire," Cassie explained. "Like on Buffy."

"I see," Teal'c said. "And Cassandra, you are dressed like the people of..."

"T! Have you met Cassie's friend!" Jack said pointedly, worried that Teal'c was about to bring up their 'trip' to 1969.

"I have O'Neill," Teal'c said patiently. "Cassandra just introduced us to each other. As I was saying, you are dressed as the people of this country several decades ago. And if I am not mistaken, your friend Aileen is from an even earlier decade."

"That's right," Aileen said. "I really like your Jedi costume... Episode I and II, right?"

"You are correct."

"Are you a specific Jedi, like Obi Wan, or just a Jedi in general?"

"I am not a specific character from the films. However, I discovered an amusing website recently that will generate a Jedi name based on your given name. According to this site, my Jedi name is 'Owicial Illiloc.'" Teal'c stated this so seriously that Jack had to turn a laugh into a cough rather quickly.

"Bit of a mouthful, don't you think?" Jack asked.

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed. "The site was most amusing. O'Neill, in case you were wondering, your Jedi name is Calon-Qwa Illiloc."

"Bless you," Cassie joked.

"So, wait, does that mean you're my long-lost Jedi brother, Owwy-shale?" Jack asked, pretending to be overwhelmed with emotions as he grasped Teal'c firmly by the shoulders.

"'Owicial,'" Teal'c corrected. "And I do not know how the names are generated, O'Neill. Perhaps it does," Teal'c said.

Cassie and Aileen were still laughing when someone knocked on the door. "That's Sam and Daniel!" Cassie said excitedly.

Jack looked at everyone in their costumes once more as he opened the door. "Hopp-eee Birrrth-daaaay," he said in an exaggerated 'Dracula voice.'

Sam and Daniel looked at him for several seconds, then looked at each other. "Any chance we're at the wrong house?" Daniel joked.

"Werr-eee funneee," Jack continued, pulling them both inside.

"Jack you sound like the Count from Sesame Street," Daniel told him, smiling around at everyone in their costumes.

Sam was smiling too. "So, a costume party this year?" she asked unnecessarily.

"Yup," Jack replied, stepping closer to her as Daniel went to hug Cassie and meet Aileen. "Everything okay at the base?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, sir, Colonel Reynolds is in charge until six am tomorrow."

"Oy," Jack said, wincing at the early hour. Still, it was the most they could do. For Jack to be away all day getting ready for the party, it had meant that Carter, as his 2IC, had to be there in his shoes. Colonel Reynolds, who lead SG3, was now in charge until then, but both Jack and Sam were planning on having their cell phones close at hand all night long, just in case.

"Where's the cop?" Jack asked, congratulating himself on sounding casual.

"Cassie told us we had to be here early, now I assume it's because she's putting us in costumes too?"

"Yeah, and before you ask I have no idea what they are."

"Hmm. Well, anyway, Pete's been with friends of his at the Colorado Springs PD all day, I think. He's coming later."

"Oh..." Jack tried to stick his hands in his pockets, but the damn cape got in the way. "Good. Um, come meet Cassie's friend..." He steered her over to the group, where everyone was chatting.

"Sam, wow, I like your hair like that," Cassie said by way of greeting, hugging her.

"Thanks, Cassie... nice costume. It's great to see you."

"You too. This is my roomie, Aileen. Aileen, this is my godmother, Sam Carter."

"Hi, it was so nice of you to come and help Cassie and everything, I love your costume..."

"Oh, thanks, it's been fun. Happy birthday, Colonel Carter."

"Just call me Sam, please. Wow! These decorations are unbelievable!"

Jack smiled happily as she surveyed the room. They had a 'yellow brick road' on the floor, that wound around all the furniture. One corner of the room, where the gift table had been started, was a 'corn field,' complete with a Scarecrow stuck to the wall and lots of huge, real sunflowers.

The food was set up against one wall on a long table, the serving chafers and trays empty except for those that contained snacks. That was 'munchkinland,' with huge fake lollipops and all. Balloons hovered in clusters all over the house. "Check out the dining room," Jack said, steering her into the room where they were going to eat dinner. Cassie started some music playing quietly in the background. Since there were only six people, Jack had figured they might as well sit at the table. The tablecloth was green, with green candles and green apples and green floral arrangements. He hit the lights and Sam laughed; the light bulbs in the chandelier were green too.

"Emerald city?" she guessed.

"Got it in one. The patio is the poppy field..." Jack continued to explain.

Sam slid the sliding glass door open and caught a quick eyeful of the poppies that were everywhere, along with a bunch of fairy lights and one discreetly placed heater before Maggie demanded her full and undivided attention. "Maggie, you're an adorable angel!" she exclaimed, crouching down to pet the excited dog.

"Sam, come on, we need to get you and Daniel in your costumes!" Cassie called from inside.

Jack gave her a hand up. "So, too weird?"

"Well, I don't remember there being too many vampires in Oz... or Jedi for that matter," Sam said with a laugh. "But I love it."

"I just hope you're still saying that when you find out whatever Cassie's got planned for you," he quipped.

"Yeah, me too," she agreed as they went back inside.

Cassie and Aileen promptly whisked Daniel and Sam away to be properly attired. While they were gone, Jack ordered the food. Rather than cooking, which he really didn't have time to do, he had decided to order from both Sam and Daniel's favorite places. The combination of Daniel's Mexican food and Sam's Chinese food was definitely a bit strange, but after so many years they were all used to it.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Sam smiled as Cassie and Aileen started fussing with a bunch of stuff in a big box. She had to admit, she was more than a little bit nervous about how this party was going to go, what with Cassie never agreeing to be in the same house with Pete before tonight, and Pete and her CO, together for an entire night in a social setting... not to mention the fact that Daniel turned almost as juvenile as Cassie about Pete... and Teal'c would just probably spend the night sending her silent waves of disapproval from across the room.

But surprisingly, Cassie seemed to be in an excellent mood, and she had clearly put a lot of effort into this party herself. Maybe it would be okay after all. Sam's eyes sparkled as she surveyed the stack of clothing Aileen was pressing into Daniel's arms as she steered him towards the bathroom. No doubt as to what _that _costume was.

Two seconds after Daniel had disappeared into the bathroom, he called loudly, "Hey! These are _my _clothes! What the hell did you do to my shirt!"

"Nothing!" Cassie called back.

Aileen, who was near Sam, added quietly to her, "Nothing except roll around the backyard in it."

Sam laughed. They were taking their jobs as party planners quite seriously, it appeared.

"Okay, Sam," Cassie said, handing her a pair of nude, shimmery pantyhose, a deep wine-colored scoop-neck leotard, and a gauzy green and purple tiered scarf-skirt.

"What is this supposed to be?" Sam asked, looking down at the things in her hands.

"You'll see, put all that on and then we'll go from there. Come on, it's going to be really great. And you don't have to wear the pantyhose, but I thought you might be cold without them. They're yours," Cassie added.

Sam sighed and started to get dressed. She had just pulled on the leotard over the pantyhose when Daniel came out of the bathroom dressed as Indiana Jones, from fedora to boots. The costume was so complete that the overall effect was quite impressive.

"What are you supposed to be, a mime or something?" he asked as he studied what Sam was wearing.

"This isn't her whole costume, Daniel," Cassie explained. "But my God, you look good."

"Best costume of the night," Aileen quickly agreed.

Even Sam, who had always thought of Daniel as a brother, had to admit that he looked really, really, _really _good. "Where did you get that jacket?" Sam asked. The brown, older style leather jacket was perfectly worn in all the right places.

Cassie threw a satchel over Daniel's shoulder as Aileen handed him a coiled whip. "Please don't tell me where you got the whip," Daniel added, looking uncomfortable at being the center of so much attention as everyone started fussing with little details of his costume.

"Oh, Daniel, don't be ridiculous, we borrowed the hat and whip from a guy in our dorm who went to a party as Indiana Jones," Cassie explained.

"Although he didn't pull it off quite as well as you," Aileen added.

Sam could tell Daniel was embarrassed at the way the much younger girls were so obviously taken by their own clever costuming choice.

"And, Sam, the jacket is Jack's," Cassie added.

"So... what are you supposed to be?" Daniel repeated, a mocking glint in his eye.

"I don't know yet," Sam said defensively, quickly pulling the skirt on. It was sort of translucent so it probably didn't really cover up all that much more, but at least she _felt _less naked.

"Go downstairs with the vampire and the Jedi and just wait and see," Cassie said, standing up on her tiptoes to make a few adjustments to the rim of his fedora before pointing him at the door.

"Yes, ma'am," Daniel muttered, leaving.

"Cassie, you should have let him stay," Aileen said solemnly.

Sam had to hide a laugh. Poor Daniel. So oblivious to the effect he had on the ladies. It was cute.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Daniel went downstairs, announcing his arrival by humming his 'own' theme music. "Dummm dundumduuuuuuuuuh dum duh duhhhhhh..."

He smiled somewhat self-consciously as he entered the living room, where Jack and Teal'c were standing around talking, looking for all the world just like they always did, as though they had completely forgotten that they were wearing costumes at all.

Both Jack and Teal'c stared at him for several seconds. Teal'c tilted his head and said, "You make a fine Indiana Jones, Daniel Jackson. An excellent choice."

"Thanks, Teal'c," Daniel said.

"That's my jacket," Jack muttered.

"Hey, you try saying no to Cassie when she's got that 'don't mess with me' look on her face."

"I did," Jack said, plucking at his cape pointedly. "How come you get to be Indiana Jones and I'm just a vampire?"

"Was that a whine?" Daniel asked, blinking innocently.

"No," Jack said stubbornly. "Besides, as soon as she turns her back, I'm losing the cape."

"We'll see," Daniel said with a knowing smile. Like Cassie would let that happen anytime soon.

"So, what are they doing to Carter?" Jack asked.

"I'm not sure... I only saw her halfway dressed."

Jack's eyebrows shot up right along with Teal'c's. Daniel cleared his throat. "That's... not what I meant. She was _dressed _when I left, just not... finished."

"She's finished now!" Aileen announced as she entered the room.

"Yes, she is," Cassie called. "Allow me to present the birthday girl... my fairy godmother!"

Jack, Teal'c, and Daniel had not stared at Sam quite so long or in such a way since many, many years ago, when Jack had made her play anthropologist with the Shavadi (in what had turned out to be one of his stupidest mistakes of all time. Yeesh! Thank God his 2IC could kick ass.)

In addition to the leotard/flowy skirt thing, her skin was all... shiny. Not quite glittery, but... shimmery. And she was wearing a large set of wings, not quite like Maggie's angel wings though. These looked more insect-like. Dragonfly or butterfly or something, Jack wasn't sure. They were all gauzy and sparkly and delicate looking. She also had her birthday tiara on.

"Colonel Carter, you look most enchanting," Teal'c said, the first of the men to speak. Her cheeks glowed pink; she was clearly uncomfortable with the costume but was humoring Cassie and Aileen.

Jack decided that was the best part of the whole costume: how she was managing to look lovely and feminine and pretty, but also managing to look ridiculously made-up at the same time. And slightly pissed off and slightly amused at her own predicament as well. This was clearly not Sam Carter, and was not the type of costume she would ever have picked out for herself in a million years. But, that had probably been Cassie's intention all along.

"Thanks, Teal'c."

"You look great, Sam. Very 'Midsummer Night's Dream,'" Daniel said.

Jack said the only thing he could think to verbalize, and ironically, it seemed to put her instantly at ease. "Impressive wingspan, Carter."


	3. Executing

A/N: Wow, only two chapters into this and it's already got more reviews than the first two parts of this series combined - thank you all so much. Also, I'd just like to quickly thank those of you responsible for this series and a few of my other stories being nominated for the Stargate Fan Awards - I started posting stories here almost a year ago, and I never thought they would get this much attention, so thank you all. I really appreciate it. To answer a couple of questions - I'm not sure about the length of this story yet as far as chapters go, but each chapter is turning out to be much longer than usual, so it will definitely be a long story (by my definition of long, at any rate.) Also, I'm definitely going to have part of it take place after 'Threads' (or after _most _of 'Threads.') I admit, I do have an incomplete 'Missing Scenes from Threads' story lurking on my hard drive somewhere, but there are just so many of those out there that I never bothered to finish it up. Maybe I'll borrow a little bit of it for the end of this one. Also, this story is quickly turning into the shippiest and most serious thing I've ever written, because I really do want to try to live up to the expectations of those of you who have put so much time into reading this entire series, but I am trying to keep some humor in there to help balance it out. Hopefully that won't end up making it too slow.

Special thanks to Timo (mu-san) for his input and discussions about the Jack and Cassie dynamic.

Ch 3: Executing

Aileen was making a huge batch of margaritas in the kitchen, and Cassie was insisting on taking pictures of everybody. Jack tried to slink back away from the group under the pretense of getting himself a drink, but Cassie spotted him and called across the room, "Fix your tie, Jack!"

"Damn bossy girl," Jack muttered, fiddling with the collar of his shirt uncomfortably. He frowned down at himself and tried to tie his bow-tie. It had been a long time since he'd had to do such a thing, and without a mirror he was pretty hopeless. His neck was already beginning to hurt from trying to angle his chin down sharply to take a look at what he was doing.

Sam went over to help her CO automatically. "Need a hand, sir?" she offered, not waiting for an answer before she had replaced his fumbling fingers with her own smaller ones and began tying the tie.

"Or two," he agreed. "So, what's the verdict?"

"Sir?"

"On the party?"

"The party is wonderful!" she said immediately, glancing up at his face and smiling. It was at this point that she realized it was probably not the smartest idea she'd ever had, helping him with his tie. It brought them in very close proximity to each other and brought up all kinds of things she was trying very hard not to think about.

Clearing her throat, she focused back on the tie, which was being stubborn and refusing to sit straight, and said, "I can't believe the decorations... you know Daniel and I weren't expecting something this elaborate this year, right sir? I mean, we understand how busy you are..."

"It's not that much," he said with a shrug. Without thinking, she adjusted the cape around his shoulders, which the movement had skewed to the left. "And Cassie and Aileen did most of the work anyway."

"It's the thought that counts," she responded. "I know the Wizard of Oz part had to be your idea, not Cassie's."

"She wouldn't let me be the Scarecrow, I had to do something. She seems good, right? I mean, I think she's doing better than I had... hoped. But maybe I'm just seeing what I want to see."

"No, you're right," she said quickly. "She's tougher than the rest of us put together." Sam realized she was finished with the tie now and completely out of excuses to keep making little tiny adjustments to it, which she hadn't even realized she had been doing in the first place.

"Sam, come on!" Daniel called loudly, making them both jump slightly and snap out of the slight daze they had both sort of fallen into.

Their eyes met quickly and before she could replace it with her usual expression, smile, and head back to the group, Jack caught it. A definite flash of disappointment. It was fleeting, but it was there. It was the same sort of look she got whenever her dad had to leave, or whenever Jack kicked her out of her lab at an ungodly hour of the morning and made her drop whatever experiment she was working on. Only it disappeared a lot faster, but it had been a lot more intense.

Jack stood, rooted to the spot, thinking about that look. It was bizarre, but he was... comfortable now. He couldn't explain why that one moment rather than anything else that had happened since the last party, when she had sworn to him 'it wasn't serious' and 'it's not like they were getting married' and the horribly awkward day she had handed him that little box in her lab had affected him so much, but it had.

"O'Neill, are you all right?" Teal'c asked, suddenly standing next to him.

"Yeah," he said, smiling slowly. "Actually... I am."

He headed over for the pictures, with Teal'c following, wondering at the sudden change in O'Neill. He seemed confident and at ease suddenly. Perhaps it was the costume.

Daniel watched Jack and Teal'c joining the group, dimly registering that Cassie was replacing his fedora with his traditional sequined birthday top hat. Jack looked... like he was having fun. The last time he'd been walking like that had been his unplanned but extremely welcomed trip off-world with them, to go fetch Sam's new toy, which was apparently some type of ship that went through the Stargate, and a time machine all in one.

"What?" Jack demanded when he noticed Daniel noticing him.

"Nothing," Daniel said, glancing over at Sam, who was taking a picture of Cassie and Aileen.

She handed them back the camera and turned to see both Daniel and Jack looking at her, Daniel with the expression he got when he was just beginning to work on translating something Ancient, and Jack just... looking. She grinned at them both and said, "Daniel, did Teal'c tell you your Jedi name? Apparently mine is..." she turned to Teal'c.

"Nununbra Cansankar," he supplied. "And Daniel Jackson, you are Talas Ponman."

"That's... interesting. Thanks," Daniel said, attempting to push his glasses up the bridge of his nose before he remembered he was wearing his hated contact lenses.

Cassie had been firm on that point, even though Daniel thought he had made a pretty good case for the argument that Indiana Jones wore glasses too. "Only when he's teaching," Cassie had insisted, pulling his glasses off and disappearing with them.

They let Cassie and Aileen amuse themselves taking pictures of everybody in their costumes for a while, until the doorbell rang, at which point Cassie hurried to get it, quickly setting the camera aside. Jack hurried after her, assuming it was either the Chinese or Mexican food. It wasn't - it was Pete.

"Sorry I'm late, I guess I copied the directions down wrong," Pete said, smiling and taking in the costumed people in front of him in obvious confusion. Jack looked at the man's button down shirt and khaki slacks and looked down at the top of Cassie's head with a scowl, realizing what she had done.

"That's all right, Pete, the food's not even here yet," Jack said, shaking the man's hand around the bouquet of roses he had brought.

"Oh, my God, I completely forgot to get Teal'c or somebody to tell you, it was a surprise for Sam so she didn't know... this is a costume party," Cassie was saying in a 'genuinely' apologetic voice.

"That explains the uh, cape," Pete said as they stepped aside to let him in. "So, you're..."

"Sorry, Pete Shanahan, Cassandra Fraiser," Jack introduced them. Cassie shook his hand, giving him a much-too-sweet smile. Jack recognized the look in her eyes too. Pete was in for a rough night. Jack was now in the awkward position of trying to decide whether he should sit back and let her have at it, or try to exercise some control over the situation. He _had _been following a strictly neutral policy about Pete... but this might be taking it a bit too far.

"Nice to finally meet you, Sam talks about you all the time," Pete said to Cassie.

"Really? Huh, I feel like I don't know anything about you at all," Cassie commented innocently, leading him into the living room. "You're a fireman?"

"Cop," Pete corrected.

Jack watched their backs and shook his head. He doubted he'd be able to control her much anyway... for a formerly sweet little girl, Cassie was now looking remarkably like a spider that just caught a big, fat fly. Jack watched as Cassie introduced Pete to everyone, and flinched automatically when he kissed Sam on the cheek. Hey, he was trying, but it was an involuntary reaction, and to be fair she didn't look all that comfortable with the PDA either.

Neither was Magnet... who was living up to her name by sticking close to Sam's side, glaring up at Pete suspiciously despite the fact that Sam had already made her stop growling. The whole exchange was rather comical due to the fact that the growling dog threatening Pete was wearing wings and a halo, and out of all the large men in the room, the only one able to control the angel-dog was the pretty fairy.

Sam accepted the flowers Pete brought with a forced smile, looking around quickly for Daniel, who was thankfully in the kitchen or something. "Thanks, Pete, they're beautiful, but we're going to have to..." she was interrupted by a monstrous sneeze from Daniel, who had reappeared, taken one breath of the now rose-infested air, and instantly started sneezing, his eyes watering uncontrollably. "Put these somewhere else," she finished, waving off Daniel's attempt to join them and say hi to Pete. "Daniel's really, really allergic," she explained.

"Sorry, I didn't know..." Pete said as Jack quickly guided Daniel off down a hall.

"It's okay, how could you know?" Sam asked. "They're lovely, really, but we'd better take them outside."

"Yeah," Pete agreed. "I'll take them back to the car, we can take them back to your place."

"Good idea," she agreed, walking him to the door. When he was gone, she hurried off to find Jack and Daniel, not surprised to find them in the bathroom, Jack rifling through his medicine cabinet and Daniel sitting slumped on the edge of the bathtub with toilet paper stuffed up both nostrils, looking very miserable.

"If adventure has a name... it _must _be Indiana Jones," she was unable to resist teasing. Daniel shot her a look through watery eyes. She apologized and wet a washcloth, pressing it to his forehead.

"Dammit, all of this is drowsy formula, and he's already had half a beer!" Jack said in frustration, looking at the various medications. "If he takes this he'll miss his whole birthday party."

"I wish Janet was here," Daniel said miserably, making all three of them freeze on the spot. They never said things like that, because they all knew they were all thinking it anyway.

"Sir, didn't you have a bunch of Dayquil when you had that cold last month?" Sam asked, once they had all quietly resumed their tasks.

"Yeah! I left it... nightstand!" Jack hurried to his room and quickly came back with the medicine.

He carefully measured out a dose, but Daniel shook his head. "Make it a double."

"Daniel..."

Daniel sneezed, the toilet paper shooting out of his nose. Sam caught it automatically, and frowned. "Ewwww," all three of them said together, before she threw it quickly in the bin and nudged Jack out of the way so she could get to the sink and start scrubbing her hands.

"Dorry, Dam," Daniel apologized through his clogged nose, reaching over the toilet to pull more tissue off the roll.

"It's okay, Daniel. I'm sorry, if I had thought he would bring roses I would have told him you're allergic..."

"It was just an accident," Jack interrupted, handing Daniel his medicine. Daniel frowned at it, pinched his nose, and knocked it back, making a terrible face. "I actually started to like it after a week of that cold," Jack commented as he put the medicine away.

"Lucky you," Daniel muttered.

"Hey, this reminds me, did you hear the one about the archaeologist, the vampire and the fairy that all got stuck in a bathroom together?" Jack asked. Daniel gave him the 'I'm not amused' look while Sam gave him the remarkably similar 'I'm not going to _act _like I'm amused' one. "Guess not then," he said, adding, "I'll go open some windows to air out the living room."

"You might want to spray that air sanitizer stuff too, sir, that might help," Sam called as he left.

When Jack entered the living room, he wasn't surprised to find that Teal'c had already opened all the windows. Jack got the stuff Sam had suggested. Pete approached him nervously. "Is Daniel okay?"

"Yeah, he'll be fine," Jack said. He couldn't help but feel sorry for Pete. It wasn't his fault Daniel was violently allergic to the flowers he had chosen to bring.

The doorbell rang. "That must be the food," Jack said quickly, setting down the air freshener and hurrying to the door. As he passed Cassie and Aileen, he scowled at Cassie, who was looking way too pleased with the situation for his liking, and humming a song that sounded familiar. Jack vaguely registered that it was from a movie he had seen with Cassie a long time ago, but couldn't quite place it.

It was the Chinese food at the door. Jack enlisted Teal'c's help in accepting all the bags and quickly paid the delivery boy. "Let's get this in the kitchen and then we can start putting everything out, but we'll wait for Daniel's food to get here."

"There is more food arriving, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked as they took the food into the kitchen. "It appears you have already ordered, as you would say, enough to feed the armed forces."

Jack chuckled at Teal'c's close approximation of the expression and started unloading the bags of food. "Tell me if you find Carter's so we can put it in the freezer," he muttered, opening various cartons, looking for the extra-spicy Kung Pao chicken that was her favorite. And her _absolute _favorite, for some strange reason, was when it was cold.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

While Jack and Teal'c were preoccupied with getting all of the food arranged, and Sam was still fussing over Daniel, who had returned to the group looking much better but still unable to pronounce a few key consonants, Cassie nudged Aileen pointedly and said, "Phase Two."

They looked at Pete, nodded, and went over to him smiling. "Hi, Pete," Aileen said.

"Hey."

"Look, we feel really bad that you didn't know about the costumes... we've got some stuff left, we could go fashion a quick costume of some sort," Cassie suggested.

"Oh, that's all right, it's not a big deal..." Pete started.

"Aw, come on, Pete," Aileen wheedled, linking her arm through one of his as Cassie took the other one and they started steering him out of the living room.

"Yeah, come on, you don't want to be left out, do you?" Cassie asked innocently. "We can come up with something really good, it'll only take five minutes."

"Well... okay," Pete agreed, realizing at this point that he really couldn't _not _agree.

Cassie and Aileen exchanged very evil grins behind his back and got to work quickly.

"Let's see what we've got here, there's not a lot but we can do something..." Aileen called over her shoulder as she rummaged through the costume box. "Most of this stuff was for your godmother though, Cass, and somehow I doubt Pete wants to be a cat or a medieval princess..."

"You picked out all the costumes?" Pete asked.

"Teal'c did his own," Cassie explained, circling around him and eyeing what he was already wearing. "But Jack always insists on surprising Sam and Daniel with the theme, so we figured we might as well surprise him with his own costume."

"He looks _really_ hot in that tux," Aileen said to Cassie, but Cassie knew she was doing it to bring it up in front of Pete.

"Hey, watch it, that's my godfather you're talking about," Cassie said playfully. She turned to Pete suddenly. "Do you have a shirt on under that one?"

"Yeah, but..."

"Good. Lose it. Aileen, grab me those elastics over there..."

"What?" Pete asked, watching the two of them, confused. Before he knew what was happening he was standing there in his undershirt while Aileen secured the hem of his trousers up around his knees with elastics and Cassie forced him into a set of lederhosen suspenders.

Done with his trousers, Aileen stood on her tiptoes and placed what was originally an elf hat, green with a little red feather in the side, on top of Pete's head.

"I really don't know that all this is necessary..." Pete started, glancing uncomfortably at the dog that had followed them into the bedroom and had been staring at him constantly, clearly telling him he was being guarded. Now she looked like she was laughing at him too. Pete usually loved dogs! This one was clearly messed up. Maybe he should get a new dog for himself and Sam, that way she wouldn't have to 'borrow' General O'Neill's dog all the time. "I mean, isn't this all a bit much seeing as how there's only six people here?"

"Well, Jack always does Sam and Daniel's party big," Cassie explained absently, straightening her appearance in the mirror. "This is actually the most toned-down party I can remember in... a long time. He's just way too busy to do it like he used to, but he did do all those decorations..."

"The Wizard of Oz stuff? That was him?" Pete asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I don't get it either," Cassie said. "It's some inside joke between the four of them, I don't know what it means. Oh well, you look good, Pete, come on!"

She hooked her arm through his once again and led him downstairs, trying to keep the grin on her face down to a somewhat normal level.

When everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at them as they entered, she knew she was failing miserably.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

After the initial surprise of Pete's costume, everyone recovered quickly and thanked him for participating and all, then carried on as though nothing unusual had happened. Everyone but Jack that is. He grabbed Cassie by the elbow and steered her away from the group into the kitchen. "Cassie, that's enough," he said firmly.

"What are you talking about, Jack?" Cassie asked innocently.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about. I thought you had decided to act like a grown-up here, but clearly it's actually the exact opposite! I want you to stop what you're doing to Pete right this instant."

"What am I doing to Pete?" she repeated with a carefully blank look on her face.

"You're trying to make him look dumb and make him feel out of place, dressing him up like he's an overgrown member of the Von Trapp family singers or something..."

"I wasn't trying to do that, Jack, if it's just happening on its own maybe that's just the way things are..."

"Dammit, Cassie," he growled. "This is not a smart way to go about whatever it is you're trying to do, and I think I've got a pretty good idea of what that is. Just leave it alone, okay?"

"You seem to have that area pretty well covered," Cassie said, crossing her arms firmly. "And forgive the bluntness, Jack, but it doesn't seem to be working too well."

"You don't have any idea what you're talking about, Cassie," Jack said firmly. "This isn't just some stupid game, okay. You're trying to mess with people's feelings and it's not right. You're trying to mess with _Sam's _feelings and you're doing it maliciously, and that's something I will not tolerate, even from you."

"Jack, what about_ your_ feelings?" Cassie implored.

"Stop it."

"No. You're the one bringing all this up. Maybe I'm messing with her feelings but she's messing with yours too, despite the fact that it might not be deliberately. And maybe that's something _I _won't tolerate from _her. _Maybe I'm just as concerned about your happiness as you are about hers, did that ever occur to you? God, of all the people on this planet, you deserve to be happy more than anyone! You're the hero of the story, Jack, you're supposed to get the girl!"

"Cassie, this isn't a story," Jack said quietly. "And I do know that your heart's in the right place here, but... you're going about this all wrong. You're just going to end up hurting the people you're trying to help. Just... stop it."

Cassie looked down at the space between them, feeling defeated. "Jack, I just... I really do just want you both to be happy. I've kind of... okay, this is kind of embarrassing, but... when I was little I used to pretend that you were my dad sometimes."

His face softened and he looked away. "Dammit, Cassie," he said gently.

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad here, I'm really not, but... it's just that... Mom's gone and it's like you're all I have left now. It used to be you and Sam but now it's just you."

"Sam will always be there for you, Cassie..." Jack started.

Cassie shook her head. "I can't do it, Jack. If she marries Pete, it's never going to be like it was. I don't want to come home to 'them.'"

"I'm sorry if you feel that way, Cass, because I know that's going to hurt Sam just as much as it's going to hurt you. And I hope that you change your mind. But you know you can always come home here, right? Even when I'm chewing you out for being a brat."

"Yeah, I know," Cassie said, smiling for the first time since he'd dragged her in there. "That's why I used to tell my friends you were my dad."

He returned the smile, surprised. "Yeah?"

She nodded.

"Okay, I guess this is the part where I'm supposed to tell you something nice too, huh." Cassie rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. "Your mom asked me a long time ago if she could tell you about Charlie. You had questions about me. So I know that you know about that."

Cassie nodded, biting her lip.

"Okay. Well, I guess what I want to say is... I know it's different because you're a girl, and actually that probably made it a lot easier for me but... I'm really grateful to you, Cass, because I got to see the whole part of childhood and growing up that he didn't have. I wouldn't have got to do the whole chaperoning dances and carting your junk off to college and all that stuff otherwise, and I would have missed a lot. So I guess what I'm saying is... backatcha."

She hugged him tightly. "I just wish..." she finally started.

"It'll be okay, Cassie," he said quietly, returning the hug and cupping the back of her head with one hand. "Just... wait and see."

"You know something I don't?"

"Yeah, I think I do," he said honestly.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Sam poked her head into the kitchen and smiled. "THERE you are, the..." she stopped, frowning. Cassie was hugging Jack tightly, and Jack looked like he'd recently been upset but was now relieved. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Jack said. "What is it?"

"The fajitas are here. You're going to be eating leftovers for a while, sir."

"I'll just have a sleep over with Teal'c and Daniel," Jack said with a shrug.

Cassie let go of him then, wiping her eyes discreetly, and turned to Sam with a sudden smile. "Time to go to the Emerald City then, huh," she said, hurrying out of the kitchen.

Sam looked to Jack, wondering if he'd explain what that was all about now that Cassie was gone. He opened his mouth, then shook his head. "I'll explain later. Come on, let's go eat."

Everyone fixed their own plate, moving down the long table they had set up for serving the food. By the time Sam got out there, Teal'c and Daniel were already through the line, both their plates piled high with both types of food, although Daniel's was predominantly Mexican. They were trying to hurry everyone along, clearly eager to be seated and begin eating.

Sam joined Pete, Cassie, and Aileen in 'munchkinland' and laughed at the way they were eyeing the two different types of food. "Don't worry, Daniel and I won't be offended if you want to just pick one and stick with it," she assured them, sliding a few nachos onto her plate next to the eggroll that was already there.

Jack joined them quickly with one last container of Chinese food. "I think it's cold enough," he said, dumping half its contents onto Sam's plate.

"It's cold already?" Sam asked with a grin.

He shrugged. "I just put it in the freezer when it got here... speed up the process a bit..."

"Thank you, sir. You really thought of everything."

"Ah, it's your birthday. Don't get used to it though," he grumbled. It was a completely empty threat, they both knew it.

Sam smiled and said, "Thank you," one more time.

"What's that?" Pete asked, wondering why that container hadn't been brought out with the others.

"It's Kung Pao..." Sam explained. "Want to try it? It's cold though."

"Why is it cold?"

"Don't question it, Pete, just accept the fact that Carter is completely insane and go with it," Jack joked.

"It's not _insane, _and _you_ like cold pizza," Sam said defensively.

"I _eat _cold pizza, Carter. There's a difference. I _prefer _it hot but I don't always have the patience to warm it up. You, on the other hand, prefer your god-awful extra-extra-spicy crap ice cold."

She shrugged. "It tastes better that way," she said for the eighty-four-thousandth time in her life. She turned back to Pete and offered him the carton. "So, want to try it?"

"Um, no thanks," he decided wisely.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Once everyone was seated at the dinner table, Jack looked around the green room at his now-green company. While it did seem oddly appropriate, at least in Sam's case – considering her costume, for her to be appearing green-tinted all of a sudden, for the rest of them it was just... weird.

"O'Neill, are you not going to say a few words before we eat?" Teal'c asked.

"Er. Yeah, okay." Jack got to his feet and awkwardly stalled, picking up his beer and looking around the room. "Uhh... we've got to be at work early tomorrow, so we're going to be on our good behavior tonight with the drinks... except for Danny of course who is well on his way to drunk already, after that one whole beer and two sips of Sam's margarita..." Jack said, smiling at the archaeologist, who rolled his eyes while everyone laughed. Sam, seated next to him, patted him reassuringly on the shoulder.

Jack looked at the two of them and continued stalling. "...But I'm sure the fajitas will fix him right up..." For the life of him, all he could think about was the conversation in the kitchen with Cassie.

"All right... I don't want to spoil the party but, well, most of us are thinking about it anyway, so I'll just say it. Everyone here knows there's someone who should be here tonight that isn't." He stared at Teal'c, for some reason he was the only one Jack was capable of looking at while speaking all of a sudden. Teal'c was always a strangely calming presence.

"I know we all wish she was, even though wishing doesn't do any good... and there's always... doubts, if something is your fault or not, or even if you know it's not your fault but you still think maybe there was one thing you could have done that would have made everything turn out differently... it can become easier to just do nothing instead, when something like that happens, and nothing you did ever did anybody any good anyway..."

His eyes finally left Teal'c, drifting around the room. Sam was crying. Crap. Daniel was too. From the way their arms were positioned, Jack could tell they were squeezing each others' hands under the table. Swallowing hard and clearing his throat, Jack kept speaking. "I guess... what I'm trying to say is that sometimes those things can start to become overwhelming, and we forget... we forget to appreciate what we're left with in missing what we've lost. I don't want that, for any of you. And, I was thinking... in the few brief seconds I had after Teal'c put me on the spot like this..."

He flashed Teal'c a brief smile and noticed that Sam and Daniel smiled a little bit as well. Good. Better. "Which I'm sure Teal'c is regretting now," he added. "I was thinking about an old toast I heard in my family when I was a kid... I don't know where it came from or anything but... I guess I understand what it means now. Tonight."

His eyes settled on Cassie, whose eyes were watery but was refusing to cry, and he thought back to everything they had talked about in the kitchen as he finished. "It was like this... if I remember it right... May all our faults be written on the seashore, and may every good action prove a wave to wash them out." Everyone clinked their drinks together in silence and Jack sat down. After several somber moments, he said, "Somebody please say something funny now so I don't get stuck with a fridge full of leftovers."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Despite the uncharacteristic seriousness of what Jack had said, after several quiet, introspective minutes, everyone did begin eating, and gradually the talking and joking resumed. Cassie and Aileen told a few funny stories that made everyone laugh, which gave everyone else (who had grown up on Earth, at least,) a way in to the conversation with college stories of their own.

When dinner was finally over, Jack felt okay. It was true, everyone had been thinking about Janet anyway. Saying it out loud had made it easier to deal with, to feel like it was okay to have fun at the party even when they were all still missing her terribly.

While everyone else sat around the table chatting, Teal'c and Jack went into the kitchen to get Sam and Daniel's cake ready. This year it was covered in tiny toy airplanes and little plastic green army men, positioned as though they were engaged in an epic battle while still carefully avoiding treading on the words "Happy Birthday Sam and Daniel" in the middle of the cake.

Jack was glad it was Teal'c who had volunteered to come help him, as he knew Teal'c was okay with comfortable silences. The two men worked quickly, outlining the cake with sparkler candles and lighting them all. While Jack slid the cake off the counter, Teal'c quickly grabbed the tub of ice cream, the little party plates, and a stack of napkins, and followed Jack back into the dining room, the two of them beginning the singing as they entered.

While they sang 'Happy Birthday,' Jack set the cake down on the table, in the space between Sam and Daniel. He squeezed Daniel's left shoulder and Sam's right at the same time before stepping back to finish the song. When it was done, they started blowing out the candles from opposite sides of the cake, while everyone clapped.

When Jack slid the cake down to himself to start cutting it up, Sam snagged an army man from the corner so she could have the icing stuck to the bottom of it. He glanced at her and said, "You should have seen the look on the lady's face when I asked if she had any plastic army _women._" Everyone laughed, but Jack didn't really notice. What he did notice was that it was the first genuine smile out of her since the toast.


	4. Giving

A/N: I love reading all of your reviews, and do try to keep in mind what the majority seems to be hoping for. With this story, it's just impossible though - I've got half of you feeling sorry for poor Pete, and the other half wanting me to eviscerate the lad even further. Ah well, there are plenty of both types of stories out there already. This chapter was originally not a chapter in and of itself, but I decided the next part was too sad so I am working on adding more funny parts at the beginning and end of it, which would have made that plus this really long, and not available until probably the weekend. SO, here's a little something for the time being - sort of a respite before the sadder bits. If anyone's already read all of the books mentioned below, please don't spoil them for me - I haven't finished two of them yet!

Ch 4: Giving

After cake and ice cream, everyone was stuffed. They sat around talking for a little while, but Cassie quickly announced that it was time to play games. A few very full people groaned slightly.

"Now, Jack insisted on having a more 'grown-up' party this year, and didn't go along with my original idea for a toga party..." Cassie started.

Sam and Daniel both said, "Thank you!"

Cassie ignored them and kept talking. "But we have to play _some _party games..."

"We racked our brains," Aileen continued.

"But decided most of our favorite games wouldn't go over so well tonight... especially since Jack, Sam, Teal'c, and Daniel have to be at work really early..."

"So no quarters," Aileen said.

"Right. Or fuzzy duck," Cassie added, exchanging sad looks with Aileen.

"No fuzzy duck," Aileen agreed sadly. "But that's okay, we've got lots of other games."

"Okay, quarters I know, but what's fuzzy duck?" Sam asked, never having heard of the game before.

"It's not very complicated," Cassie said with a shrug.

"You just go round in a circle and everyone says 'fuzzy duck.' If you mess it up you've got to drink."

It took the rest of the room a few seconds to get it. Sam, Jack, and Pete were laughing. A few seconds later Daniel went, "Oh! You mean 'does he...'"

"Yes, Daniel!" Jack and Sam both interrupted together.

"How about some games that aren't rated R?" Jack suggested. "If we _must _play games, that is."

They spent the next hour and a half trying to play card games. Cassie and Aileen suggested a Spit tournament. The game, played between two people, required fast reflexes. After showing those who didn't already know how to play, everyone took turns and challenged the winners. It didn't really work very well though. Teal'c was infinitely better than the rest of them. They moved on to Spoons with similar results. Even the failure of the games was fun in and of itself, though, as everybody present was fairly competitive by nature, even at spoons.

"Okay, the last one is BS, for Jack's G-rated party," Cassie said, smirking at him. "Everyone know how to play?"

Pete and Daniel didn't know how, but it was quickly explained to them. This game turned out to be impossible to play with their particular group, as no member of SG1 was able to successfully bluff another because they knew each other's tells so well. The object of the game was supposed to be to get rid of your cards first, but with SG1 playing, they quickly warped it into a competition to see who could gather the _most _cards. They still enjoyed it, although that was probably due more to the margaritas than the merits of the game itself.

"Well, okay, the next game is kind of dumb, but it's actually surprisingly fun," Cassie said, handing everyone a balloon filled with regular air, tied to a string. "Tie this around one of your ankles. We spread out, and when I say 'go,' you try to pop everyone else's balloon while keeping yours safe. Last one with a balloon left wins."

"Of course, we're not entirely certain this will be fun with a bunch of people who aren't already well on their way to plastered," Aileen told Sam as they both tied their balloons to their ankles. At that moment Daniel bumped into the coffee table, banging his shin loudly, and yelped. "Okay, maybe I take that back," Aileen amended.

Surprisingly, the simple, juvenile game was actually a lot of fun. People tried to form alliances, then turned on them. Furniture was employed as bunkers. Jack and Daniel both tried to cheat by picking their balloons up off the ground. But the one having the most fun with this game was Maggie, who was happily pouncing on balloons and ended up popping more of them than anyone. She looked so surprised when she jumped on a balloon only to have it vanish with a loud _pop _that it made everyone laugh.

"Okay," Jack announced when everyone had collapsed onto the nearest piece of furniture after the game ended. "Now that_ that_ silliness is over, I think it's time for presents."

"Then we can play board games," Cassie said. "There's this awesome one we brought called 'Apples to Apples...'" She got up to help Jack bring the gifts over to Sam and Daniel, who were squashed together in Jack's favorite big chair.

"Okay, first of all, this isn't really your gift but I added some of last year's pictures to your albums," Cassie said, handing over the huge, heavy photo albums to Sam and Daniel.

Sam and Daniel thanked her and looked through the new pictures quickly. Knowing everyone else was waiting impatiently for them to open their gifts, they set them aside to look at slowly later. Sam and Daniel exchanged the gifts to and from each other first. They unwrapped them at the same time and burst out laughing and hugged each other excitedly.

"What is it?" Cassie called.

"We got each other the exact same thing... this hasn't happened since the first year," Daniel explained, laughing. They held up their boxes.

"Hey, that's the thing you gave me for _my _birthday," Jack said, recognizing the picture on the front of the boxes.

"What does it do?" Pete asked.

"Everything!" Daniel and Sam exclaimed together.

"It's like a souped-up palm pilot," Jack explained.

"The PalmOne Zire 72 Special Edition Handheld is _not _a souped-up palm pilot, sir," Sam said, looking offended at the mere suggestion. She turned her attention back to Daniel and confessed, "I hated wrapping it up for you, I was soooooo tempted to keep it myself."

"Me too!" Daniel said. "Teal'c had to pry it out of my hands and wrap it up for me."

"Thanks, Teal'c," Sam said, smiling over at him.

"You are welcome, Colonel Carter," he said with his almost-not-there smile.

"Thanks, Daniel," Sam said, hugging him round the shoulders and kissing him on the cheek.

"And thank you, Sam," he echoed, hugging her back. "You know these can record digital video, right, Jack, so maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to bring them with us on trips..."

"No, Danny," Jack said firmly, but he looked amused at the hopeful look on Sam and Daniel's faces. "The toys stay at home. Don't make me start having to check your packs myself before you leave."

Sam looked at Cassie, Aileen, and Pete and explained, "We gave one of these to General O'Neill for his birthday and had already programmed a bunch of stuff into it and everything. And er... part of the gift was teaching him how to use it."

"We thought it would be really helpful with his new job and all," Daniel continued. "But we didn't think he'd figure out how to play games and listen to music on it by himself," Daniel added, laughing.

"Hey!" Jack objected, but they could tell he was amused. "Well, I'm glad you've got your own now, maybe you'll both stop coming up with excuses to borrow mine!"

They nodded, both already engrossed with reading the specifications on the back of the box, even though they both knew how to use the device already. Jack turned to the rest of the group and said, "Geeks and their toys." Everyone laughed, and Jack added, "Teal'c, I'm putting you in charge of making sure those don't find their way into your packs when you guys go off-w... off with your assignments."

Teal'c merely nodded and said, "Consider it done, O'Neill. Colonel Carter, Daniel Jackson, please open my gift next." He handed them both neatly wrapped packages and sat back down next to Pete.

"Heavy," Daniel commented as he felt the weight of the box on his lap. Sam picked hers up experimentally and nodded.

Teal'c had given them both books. For Daniel, one called, _The Egyptologist: A Novel, _and another called, _The Historian. _"They are works of fiction, Daniel Jackson, but I believed you would enjoy them, and enjoy informing us of any factual errors contained within."

"Thanks, Teal'c! I've been meaning to read this one, and this other one is supposed to be even better!" Daniel exclaimed.

"Oh, me too, Teal'c, thanks!" Sam exclaimed, holding up the books Teal'c had given her, one of which was about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the other called _Just Six Numbers. _

"Geeks," Jack repeated affectionately as Sam and Daniel both got up out of their chair to hug Teal'c at the same time. Sam kissed him on the cheek as well. Daniel did not.

"You are both most welcome. I hope that you enjoy them."

"At home," Jack added pointedly. Sam and Daniel both looked at him and nodded as they sat back down in their chair.

Pete handed Sam and Daniel both envelopes. "Sorry, Daniel, it's kind of lame, but Sam told me this was one of your favorite things," he said.

"Wow, thanks, Pete, you didn't have to get me anything..." Daniel started, clearly surprised as he opened the envelope and laughed. It was a Starbucks gift card. "Definitely one of my favorite things. Thanks you, Pete."

"Sam, I uh, got your present today, sort of, but it's not going to be ready for another couple of weeks..." Pete explained. He was tempted to tell Sam about the house now, but thought it would be an even better thing to surprise her when they could actually go and see it.

"Thank you, Pete. And you already gave me those lovely flowers," she said, smiling at him and leaning over to kiss him on the cheek.

"Now me!" Cassie said. "Aileen helped me put these together," she explained as she handed them boxes, the same size but in different wrapping paper.

Sam and Daniel unwrapped their gifts and said, "Oh, wow," at the same time.

"They're different from your regular albums," Cassie explained as they started looking through them. "I mean, obviously they're different, but... they're only from our vacation to Disney World last year. There were _so _many pictures. And they're not just pictures, it's like a whole scrapbook thing... there was this store at Disney World that was all scrapbook stuff and we... we decided it would be a neat thing to do..."

Sam and Daniel both looked up at Cassie quickly, everyone realizing the 'we' meant Cassie and Janet.

"Wow, thank you, Cassie," Daniel said quietly, looking down at the book.

"These are beautiful. Thank you both, for doing this."

"I just glued where Cass told me to," Aileen said with a shrug. "She did all of the arranging and creative stuff."

"Come over here, you, I'm getting tired of getting up and down all the time," Daniel said. Cassie laughed and came over to them. They hugged her both tightly for a long time and kissed her.

When Cassie went back to sit next to Aileen, she was trying hard to keep everything together. Aileen squeezed her hand without saying anything, which seemed to help. Cassie cleared her throat and said, "Jack, looks like you're the cheese standing alone."

"Very cute," he said to Cassie, handing gift bags to Sam and Daniel. "Although I can't really compete with your gift, Miss Fraiser. Always determined to make me look bad, huh?"

"Well, you make it so easy, Jack," she responded, the mood lightening up considerably with their friendly teasing.

Daniel opened his gift first, pulling out a coffee mug that said, "I want my mummy" and had a cartoonish-looking Egyptian mummy on the opposite side, and novelty tee-shirt that said, "I'm allergic to stupid people."

"Now before you put that on and pretend to go into a sneezing fit around me, Danny boy, may I remind you once again that I sign your paychecks now," Jack said.

As the laughter died down, Daniel replied, "Now, Jack, I've never accused you of being stupid. Bull-headed, unmanageable, and single-minded, yes, but never stupid."

"Yeah, same to you, Spacemonkey," Jack muttered, but both men were smiling. "There's another one in there too," he added.

Daniel pulled out another shirt, facing himself so that only Sam and Daniel could read it. "Oh God," Daniel groaned, while Sam said reproachfully, "Sir!"

"Come on, show the rest of the class, Danny," Jack said, smiling and very pleased with himself. Daniel showed all of them the tee-shirt, which said 'Archaeologists Do It In the Dirt.'

Everyone got good laughs out of that, and finally Daniel turned to Sam. "Go on, Sam, open yours if you dare."

"I'm not so sure I should now," Sam said dryly, opening her gift nonetheless. She pulled out a plush Albert Einstein doll and laughed. "Thanks, sir."

"It's to replace that Major Matt Mason doll from when you were a kid," he said.

Everyone was still laughing and talking about the funny gifts when Sam noticed there was something else in the bottom of her gift bag. As she started pulling out the tissue paper, Jack, seeing what she was doing, said, "I should have given you that a while ago, but I never found the right time."

Sam looked over at him in surprise. He was halfway across the room, speaking much quieter than everyone else, but she had heard him just as clearly as though he were sitting right next to her. The sudden serious tone of his voice and look on his face surprised her, especially after all the joke gifts. Wondering what it could possibly be, she finally looked back down into the bag and gasped, pulling out the object inside. It was one of his off-world hats.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Pete knew SG1 had some strange inside jokes that he didn't really get, but for the life of him he could not imagine why an old, slightly battered baseball cap would render his fiancee speechless and make her instantly tear up.


	5. Splintering

A/N: This one took a while because I wanted to cushion the sad bits and added a long, lighter bit at the end- I know it gets kind of intense, but since we're approaching the end of this whole long series where Jack and Sam haven't talked very much... well, there's a lot to say. Just a couple of quick notes about the last chapter... I was shocked at how many people are familiar with 'Apples to Apples,' which is a great game. Gateseeker2: Thank you for asking, the symbiotes are doing just fine, although they're doing a good job at reducing me to an inanimate object! Janissima - you hit the nail on the head, Jack's gifts (except for the hat of course) were intentionally impersonal. I wanted to pick things he could have ordered over the internet while he was at work. Lastly... man, I never would have thought finally writing Pete in a fic would actually make me feel more sorry for the guy - a lot of you guys are drinking some serious Haterade!

Ch 5: Splintering

The party had hit a comfortable lull. Sam and Daniel were still ensconced in their chair, now taking their time and looking through the photo albums at a slug's pace. Aileen, Pete, and Teal'c were talking over by the food, Teal'c snacking. Jack was considering getting himself another beer when Cassie appeared beside him with a fresh one. "Thanks," Jack said as he took it.

Cassie nodded, apparently noticed what Jack was looking at, and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"I was just thinking how many pictures are in that book on their laps of the two of them sitting right in that same chair," Jack said.

"Yeah. Well... it's a good chair."

"Yeah, and whenever they're here I never get to sit in it!" he complained half-heartedly. Cassie shook her head and sighed. Sam and Daniel finished with the album and said something quietly to each other, then both of them nodded and Daniel got up and grabbed his new scrapbook.

He scouted the room for Cassie and called, "Come over here while I take a look at what you did."

Cassie sat down with him on the couch, and Pete and Aileen scooted over to look at the book as well. Teal'c came over to Jack and said, "You have done an excellent job tonight, O'Neill. You are to be commended."

"Cassie and Aileen deserve most of the credit," Jack said with a shrug. He groaned as Sam, who apparently wanted to look at her own scrapbook alone, let Maggie (who had been Sam's shadow all evening) get up in the chair with her. "Carter!" he called. Sam _knew _he didn't like Maggie getting on the furniture... the dog's toenails were lethal on leather. She also knew she could pretty much get away with anything on her birthday.

"Sir?" she called back, not looking up from the scrapbook, in an annoyingly respectful/innocent voice. He grumbled to himself.

Jack glared half-heartedly at the two of them, ignoring him, all cuddly in that chair, Maggie with her front legs and head draped over Sam, the halo and wings still on, looking for all the world as though she were studying the scrapbook too... Teal'c took a picture of them, which reminded Jack that he and Teal'c had been in the middle of a conversation.

"As I was saying, O'Neill," Teal'c said calmly. "You are to be commended."

"And as I was saying, I didn't have to do most of the work for this," Jack replied.

Teal'c stared at him, hard, for several moments, and finally said, "I was not only referring to the party, O'Neill." Before Jack could fully assess the possible implications of that, Teal'c had gone back to refill his plate.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Sam glanced up from the scrapbook, which had clearly taken Cassie a lot of time to put together, help from Aileen notwithstanding. She looked over at the couch, where everyone else was crowded, either sitting on it or leaning on the back, looking at their regular photo albums, while Cassie and Daniel took turns explaining the context of some of the pictures.

She looked back down at the open scrapbook in her lap, absently petting Maggie with her free hand. The picture on this page was from the Princess breakfast that the Colonel... no, now the General, had pulled several strings to get them last minute reservations for, on their last morning at Disney World last year. He had done this because Teal'c was distraught about being unable to find Belle, but insisted it was for Cassie.

The corners of her mouth turned up in a small smile as she studied the big group picture. Everyone was squashed together so they'd all fit, and they all looked so happy. Although none of them were related to each other by blood, and two of them were actually from other planets, the first thing that came into her mind when she looked at the picture in her lap was 'the perfect family.'

Glancing over at the people on the couch, she realized Pete was looking at her already. She returned his smile a bit unsteadily, but he didn't notice the hesitation. He turned his attention back to whatever Daniel was saying, but Sam kept looking at them.

The couch was crowded. Everyone, even Cassie and Daniel, was now being super-polite to Pete, much more so than they ever had before and more than Sam had expected of either of them. She knew that was probably Jack's influence, but it was still progress. Despite all of this, she still didn't feel as _right _when she looked at the people on the couch as when she looked at the picture in her lap.

She realized most people's personal and professional lives were completely separate spheres, but hers had always been inextricably linked, ever since she was transferred to the SGC. Now, she realized sadly as she looked back down at the picture in her lap, they were going to have to separate. Pete just didn't _fit _here, with this part of her life. It would be unfair to expect him to, wouldn't it? Sure he knew the basics of what went on at the SGC, but it was nothing like what any of the rest of them shared – years and years of facing situations that nobody could ever dream of facing. Facing them together... surviving them together... and sometimes not.

Her eyes teared up again as she found Janet in the picture, standing directly in front of Teal'c and not blocking him from the camera at all because he was just that much taller than her... she sighed heavily. Maggie licked her arm.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Jack had been keeping an eye on Sam discreetly as she made her way through her scrapbook by herself, respecting the fact that she wanted to look at it alone but still concerned that some of the pictures of Janet would understandably upset her. When he saw her eyes fill up with tears again and saw his dog look up at her with her ears back, wag her tail slowly, and lick her on the arm, he said quietly, "Daniel." It wouldn't really be right to go over there himself, with Pete right there and all, but Daniel could do it.

Daniel looked over at him, followed his eye line, and nodded, passing off the book in his lap to Cassie and going back over to Sam. He sat down on the arm of the chair and wrapped his arm around her. Sam looked up at him with a grateful smile and squeezed his hand. They started looking at the book again, together.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Sam felt the loose grip Daniel had on her shoulder tighten as she turned the page of the scrapbook. She froze, unsure if she should turn the page quickly or give Daniel some time to look at the picture she knew had been the one to instantly grab his attention. She hesitantly moved her hand back to the corner of the page. "Don't," Daniel croaked. She sat still, wanting to look up at him but wanting to respect his privacy even more. They were looking at a picture of Daniel and Janet on some sort of boat ride. Sam remembered Janet telling her that it had been her favorite thing at Disney World, but the usually chatty doctor hadn't said anything more about it.

Judging from the pictures, Sam could see why. The top one was a nicely composed tourist shot, with a beautiful, scenic river background, Janet and Daniel standing near the rail of the boat. Obviously to reduce the glare, Daniel had taken off his glasses, and the hats they had worn all weekend were gone as well. They each had one arm around each other in a friendly, casual way, and smiled into the camera. It was a perfectly lovely, but rather ordinary shot.

It was the one underneath it that caught Sam's attention, and she knew it was the one Daniel was looking at too. It had to be taken either just before or just after the one above it, probably before, because Janet and Daniel obviously didn't know it was being taken. Daniel had his glasses and Mouseketeer ears on, Janet had her Minnie Mouse ear headband, and they were facing each other, about a foot and a half of space between them, both leaning casually on the rail of the boat. Janet held a partially eaten cotton candy, and was holding a little bit of it out between her fingers, offering it to Daniel, who was reaching out to take it. They were both smiling, like one of them had just told a good joke.

"My tongue was blue," Daniel said quietly.

"The cotton candy is pink," Sam said, confused.

"Janet's was pink. I'd already finished mine - blue - by the time we got on the boat. I remember, she had joked that I looked like you, and I told her she was taking this 'Sam and Daniel are twins' thing a little too far. When I ate some of hers it just made my mouth turn purple."

"That was her favorite thing we did at Disney World."

Daniel sighed heavily. Sam leaned up to hug him as best she could at the somewhat awkward angle, ending up with him pulling her up into him with both arms, her nose pressed right into his armpit. Luckily, he was only dressed as Indiana Jones, and hadn't been out fighting Nazis or anything, so it wasn't too bad.

"I keep thinking I wasted a lot of time. I was only just getting to know her. Even then, I wasn't sure if we were just supposed to be really good friends or maybe if there was something else, just starting, you know? And then we didn't get a chance to find out. That's the worst part of it."

Sam knew nobody else in the room could hear what he was saying, he was speaking so quietly and directly into her ear. "I'm so, so sorry, Daniel," Sam finally said. It seemed like a stupid thing to say, but she couldn't think of anything else.

He pulled away from her and wiped his eyes quickly. "I'm going to go upstairs... I just want to be alone for a little while."

"Okay." Sam nodded sadly and watched him go, then caught Jack's eye. He tilted his head slightly in the direction Daniel had gone, asking if he should go after him. Sam shook her head minutely and looked at Teal'c, who had seen everything as well. He nodded his head at her in that respectful-of-your-wishes way of his and went back to whatever he was talking about with Cassie. Sam looked back down at the picture of Janet and Daniel, shook her head sadly, and turned the page.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Jack grimaced as he watched Sam return her attention to the scrapbook after watching Daniel leave the room. "God, this party sucks," he mumbled under his breath.

Ten minutes later, Sam got up quickly, placing the scrapbook down on the coffee table in front of her, open. Maggie started to get up out of the chair too, but Sam said, "Stay here Mags," and hurried out of the room even faster than Daniel had, her head ducked down.

Jack went over to the chair she had vacated and petted Maggie absently as he sat down on the edge of it and angled the scrapbook to himself. He sighed as he looked at the pictures. Most of the scrapbook pages contained multiple pictures, sometimes cut out and arranged in a bit of a collage, and most of the pages had decoration around them, and captions. Stamps, stickers, that kind of thing. These two pages were completely blank apart from the picture centered on each.

They were pictures from the night Jack, Cassie, Janet, and Teal'c had met up with Sam and Daniel. Jack had no idea these pictures were even taken. After the official birthday dinner, they had found a grassy hill to watch the Epcot fireworks display. In both pictures, Jack was closest to the camera, Sam sitting beside him further away from whomever had taken the picture. It had to be Janet or Teal'c, because Jack remembered that Daniel had gone to fetch drinks for everyone, and Cassie had been mad at Sam that night.

In the photo on the left, Sam was hugging her knees, her chin resting on top of them. Her face was turned up towards the sky, and even in profile it was obvious how enchanted she was with the light show going on above them. She looked like a little kid. The tiara on her head certainly added to the simple look of wonderment on her face. Jack, in the photo, was looking at her rather than up at the sky, the photo proving to the Jack on the chair that yes, he did indeed stare quite inappropriately at his 2IC.

Hammond probably wouldn't be too happy with that picture, but it didn't strike Jack as all that surprising or unusual. The picture on the right, however, was another story. It was, essentially, the reverse of the one on the left. Jack was leaned back on his hands, legs out straight in front of him, looking up at the fireworks with his 'Niiice' expression. The surprising part was that Sam was looking at _him. _

While her expression lacked the more-than-slightly hungry look on his face in the previous photo, she was still looking at him with an overall soft and fond look on her face and in her eyes, her mouth curled up in a very small smile that she would have been able to hide quickly if anybody had looked at her suddenly.

Jack idly wondered how it was possible she hadn't noticed a camera pointed at them from that angle as he muttered, "Crap" under his breath, closed the book, and sat back in the chair, leaning back over his dog, who had made herself comfortable now in the whole chair. What the hell was he supposed to do now? Leave her alone or go see if she was okay? Like he'd know what to say anyway... God, this party sucked.

Daniel came back into the living room looking back in control of himself, without his jacket on. He came over to Jack and said quietly, "She went up on the roof and told me to leave her alone. I made her take my jacket, well, _your _jacket actually, but even with that, she's going to freeze in that costume."

"Okay," Jack said, suddenly strangely calm again. "Thanks, Danny."

"You aren't going to go get her?" Daniel asked, surprised.

"It's Carter, Daniel," Jack explained patiently. "We've got to give her a chance to freeze her ass off a little bit first."

Daniel looked at him intensely for a few minutes and said, "You know if you'd say _anything _about it you could fix this, Jack."

Jack knew exactly what he was talking about and said simply, "I'm sorry Daniel. I can't do that."

"You might not have forever, you know," Daniel said seriously, obviously speaking from experience. "I hope you know what you're doing."

"I'm not doing anything," Jack said firmly.

"That's my point."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

In the ten minutes that Jack made himself wait, Aileen and Cassie got everyone started on some game Jack wasn't paying attention to but that thankfully took everyone else's attention away from the fact that Sam was AWOL. When the ten minutes were up, Jack went into the kitchen and poured half the coffee into his giant travel mug thing, stopped in his bedroom to grab a blanket, and headed up to the roof.

Sam was looking through his telescope, her back to him, but she stood up straight as soon as she heard him shut the door. He smiled at the way she looked from behind - with the big leather coat on over her costume, only a few points of the gauzy skirt fabric poked out from the bottom, so it almost looked like she was just wearing a coat, her birthday tiara, and nothing else. "Find anything interesting?" Jack asked.

"Not really," she said, turning to face him. She had the coat zipped up and hugged her arms tightly for warmth.

"If you're planning on making yourself sick so you don't have to go to work tomorrow, you shouldn't do it at your boss's house," Jack commented, handing her the coffee.

She took it with one slightly shaky hand and took a small sip. "Thanks." He nodded and folded the blanket in half, put it on the ground, and sat down.

"Not going anywhere?" Sam guessed. He shook his head. "Subtle," she muttered, sitting down next to him.

He waited for several minutes while she alternated between looking up at the stars and drinking the coffee. Finally, he couldn't sit there without saying anything any more. "You think too much."

"Maybe," she agreed, surprising him not only with the response but with how tired she sounded as she said it.

"So... what were you thinking about before I interrupted you?"

"Entropic cascade failure, actually."

He chuckled. "Figures. That's the thing that happened to the other you when she came here, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Why were you thinking about that?"

She shrugged and looked down at the coffee mug in her hands. "That's just kind of what this feels like," she finally admitted.

"What what feels like? Tonight? This party?" He tried to prompt her into talking more. Sam Carter always did some of her best thinking out loud, using one of them as a sounding board for something complex that made sense in her head but hadn't been narrowed down to its simplest terms yet.

"Yes." She shook her head and changed her mind. "No. I don't know! Sort of. It just seems like everything's falling apart sometimes. Not even falling apart, just... spreading apart... entropy..."

"Everything tends towards chaos," Jack supplied. She looked over at him quickly. "Sometimes I do listen to the prattling," he said with a shrug.

She laughed a little bit and handed him the coffee.

"Thanks." He drank some of it and set it back down between them. "I should have told Cassie no when she asked me about the party. I knew it was a bad idea, but I thought..."

"The party was wonderful," Sam told him. "Really. It was... necessary, in a way. I don't know. And just the fact that you did it, even though you're so busy, and I know you probably didn't even want to... it's just... I don't know. What you were saying before, in your toast. Maybe it's not possible anymore. Maybe things are already too messed up to ever fix."

"I don't believe that."

"Nothing even seems to bother you anymore, sir," she said, her tone slightly accusatory. Then she got introspective again and asked, "How come you never feel like this?"

"Like things are too messed up to fix?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"That's easy. When that happens I go, 'CARTER!' and you come up with some wacky plan and fix whatever needs fixing."

She shook her head sadly. "Not this time, I don't think. What you said at dinner... I mean, it's not just Janet that's missing from tonight."

"I know," Jack said quietly. "I tried to track Dad down, Carter, but you know those Tok'ra... they've perfected the art of Hide and Seek."

"He told me last year it would be a long time before I'd see him again."

"And that was almost a year ago. That's more than long enough. I'm sure if something bad had happened we would have heard about it, but I wanted to try to get him here... I'm sorry that I couldn't."

"Thank you, sir. I just... miss him. And General Hammond, and Cassie being here all the time, and Janet, of course, but it's even more than that... I don't know how to explain it."

"You miss the way everything used to be?" he guessed carefully.

She looked at him earnestly. "Yes, that's it exactly! I'm not a child... I know things change, that they have to. Especially doing what we do. We're lucky we haven't had to go through more losses than we already have. And the changes aren't all bad, they're just... I don't know."

"Yeah you do."

"Are you happy?" Sam asked him suddenly, catching him off-guard.

Jack shrugged, unable to lie to her. He wasn't _unhappy. _"I'm... tired," he finally said.

"I know," Sam said quietly. "This past year... sir, don't get me wrong. You are _great _at your job, whether you think you are or not. But despite being so good at it, it seems like it's... I don't know... like it's taking something away from you. I know we're all doing the jobs we need to be doing right now, and I love _my _job. But you loved my job too, when it was yours, and... I'm so... touched that you gave me your hat tonight, but I'd happily give it back to you in a second if I could."

"I know you would, Carter."

They sat in silence for several long minutes. Finally Jack let out a frustrated sigh and said, "This is the worst party ever."

"No it's not," Sam said immediately. "My ninth birthday was much worse."

"Really?" His tone begged her to tell him about it; they really needed something to lighten the mood.

"Yes, sir. It was a swim party, at an indoor pool obviously, for the weather. The novelty of swimming while it was still cold outside had everyone a little overexcited, I suppose, and about thirty minutes into the party I tried a backflip off the diving board on a dare, hit my forehead on the edge of the board on my way down, and had to be rushed to the emergency room. Dad likes to joke that I had asked for 'My Little Pony' and got 'My first stitches' instead."

Jack laughed. He could picture Jacob saying that. "Well, I stand corrected," he finally said.

After a brief quiet period, Sam said, "This party is a goodbye, isn't it, sir," not quite making it a question.

"No," he said quickly. "It's not a goodbye. But... I think it might be an end. Or maybe last year should have been the real end, and maybe you're right, and this year we were all trying to hold onto something that can't really be recovered. But that's... that's okay, if that's what it is. It's just another change. We all got used to the changes at the SGC. We can get used to this too."

"Do you want to?" she asked quietly.

Jack thought about what Daniel had said, and he knew he was right. He'd known it before Daniel had said it, too. He'd sort of known it at the back of his mind for a long time. She wanted him to ask her not to marry Pete.

But he knew a couple of other important things too. "That's irrelevant, Carter." She wanted to press him further on the issue, he could tell. But she was frustrated with his dismissal of the question and the deliberately obtuse look he now put on his face.

"Dammit, sir," she said as she exhaled sharply, looking away. She got to her feet and walked back over to the edge, looking up at the stars and mumbling, "Damn entropy."

Jack left her alone for a few seconds, sighing. He still wasn't going to touch the Pete situation, not even now, but he wasn't going to intentionally upset her either. He got to his feet, his knee popping loudly. He winced as he stepped up next to her.

"Carter... I think you took my toast earlier a little too seriously," he said quietly. "Or you're thinking too much about the wrong parts of it. So, I'm gonna do your job for a minute here, and simplify things for you." She turned sideways to face him again, looking surprised and curious as to what he was about to say.

He took a deep breath. "I wasn't lying about the toast being one I'd heard in my family, but it wasn't the one I _usually _heard. But I didn't want Aileen and Pete to feel left out, so I picked that one because it was something I could honestly say to them too. If it had been just you, Daniel, and Teal'c, I would have said the other one."

"What's the other one?" she asked, almost whispering.

Jack bent down to pick up the almost-empty coffee mug and held it up briefly like a toast before handing it to her. "Here's to you, who halves my sorrows and doubles my joys."

Her eyes filled up with tears again and Jack internally repeated his phrase of the night to himself: this party sucks. _How _many times had he made the birthday girl cry tonight? Way too many, that was for sure.

She blinked the tears away before they could fall, which made him feel a little better. Then he almost felt like crying himself, because she stepped a little bit closer to him, just barely brushing up against him but close enough that he could feel how cold she was, and locked eyes with him and he knew exactly what she was going to ask him to do before she said anything.

And it was going to kill him to do it, but he was going to do it anyway, because he could hardly tell her no any day of the year but on her birthday it was damn near impossible. He must have had a slightly scared or tortured look on his face, because she obviously knew he knew, so she skipped saying it out loud, instead saying, "Please."

"Sam."

"This is where everything began, after all. You packed that silly backpack with cake and champagne and almost wouldn't let me climb the ladder because you thought I was too drunk..."

"That wasn't where it began," he said without thinking. _Dumbass, _he internally scolded. Now she was waiting for the explanation to that. "For me at least," he clarified, unwilling to voice any further explanation as to where, exactly the 'beginning' of the_thing _between them really was.

She got it though, she always did. "Me neither," she admitted, so quietly he almost missed it. "But if this party is really the end, please."

She was looking at him so openly – it was probably her rarest expression. Completely unguarded. The last time he remembered seeing it had been in his quarters on base after Janet died. She'd given him a simple, "I'm really, really glad you're okay," plus that look, and he'd simultaneously wanted to hug her as tightly as humanly possible and put his fist through the wall for being alive, standing there looking at her while her best friend was lying dead in the morgue three floors up.

Luckily, he'd chosen the first action. The walls were made out of concrete, after all.

"God, don't look at me like that," he grumbled, at the same time pulling her into another hug like he had done that day in his room – hey, this time his ribs weren't cracked. She hugged him back, sliding her arms around him underneath the stupid cape he was still wearing, her face going into his shoulder, but it wasn't enough. They both knew it.

After a long time, he stood up straight, leaning slightly away from her face, and pressed the palm of his right hand to her cheek, their eyes still locked on each other, her eyes still a little wet. She knew how much she was asking from him, he could tell. She knew he'd give it to her too – taking a snake in the head because someone says, 'Sir, please,' kind of made everything else, even this, seem a little trivial, at least in Jack's strange world.

The trapdoor was thrown open, banging back against the roof loudly, and they both jumped and looked around in confusion, as though they had temporarily forgotten there were other people in the world at all, let alone in the house.

"Jack!" Daniel called, a few seconds before he scrambled up onto the roof with them.

"Daniel, your timing is worse than a two year-old that just figured out how to climb out of the crib," Jack informed him.

"Thanks," Daniel said without missing a beat. "I'm sorry, but Colonel Reynolds just called – Bray'tac just showed up at the SGC. Something's going on, guys, something big."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Cassie, who was used to those who worked at the SGC being called in at random hours, tried to keep Pete and Aileen out of the way amidst the sudden chaos of SG1 gathering ID badges, cell phones, and in Daniel's case, the shoes he had taken off. They ran around, grabbing whatever they saw no matter who it belonged to, slamming drawers in the kitchen and doors upstairs.

"Does someone have my badge?" Daniel called, rummaging around for it in the kitchen.

"Got it, Danny!" Jack called. He turned to Cassie as they all crowded at the front door. "You'll..."

"Take care of everything," Cassie finished, nodding.

"I'll call you when I can," he said, pushing everyone out the door.

The three people remaining looked at each other for a few seconds, not quite knowing what to say. Pete was watching the mayhem in a kind of stupor: he wasn't unused to Sam having to cancel plans, sometimes at the last minute, for 'Base Emergencies,' but it was always on the phone – this was the first time he had ever watched her get a call and just take off. He knew it was her job, of course, but he hadn't quite expected her to be so happy and excited about it. She clearly wasn't exaggerating when she said she loved her job. And he now realized it was definitely always going to be that way.

"That happens a lot," Cassie finally offered. Everyone jumped as the front door opened again quickly and Sam hurried past them into the living room. Outside, Jack was honking the horn of his truck loudly.

"I'm coming!" Sam yelled back, rummaging around a bunch of tissue paper for something. Finding what she was looking for, the baseball cap Jack had given her, she rushed past everyone again, calling over her shoulder, "Bye guys, thanks for the great party!"

Cassie watched them all pile into Jack's truck quickly, Teal'c practically throwing Daniel and Sam into the backseat. Jack started pulling out of the driveway before Teal'c had even completely closed his door.

As they disappeared around the corner, Cassie turned to Aileen and Pete with a grin and asked, "So... how long do you think it'll take them to remember that they're all wearing their costumes?"

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

SG1 (which still included Jack, in all of their minds) tore through each security checkpoint quickly and rushed into the Gate room, where Bray'tac was waiting with Walter, Siler, and the usual technicians and security team that were always skulking abound the Gate room.

Bray'tac and Walter were both giving them all such stunned, surprised looks that the men of SG1 turned to each other, confused, trying to see if any of the rest of them knew why they were being looked at so strangely. While they were doing this, Carter was in full-on emergency mode. When she quickly unzipped the huge jacket she was still wearing and tossed it absently over Daniel's shoulder before going over to Walter, Jack quickly realized why they were all being looked at like they were completely mad - they were all still in their costumes.

He fiddled with the strings of his cape and cleared his throat self-consciously while Daniel tried, "Wh... we were just..."

Only Teal'c looked unperturbed.

Carter still hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary, and was clearly trying to figure out what the big emergency was. She was already hovering over Walter, at his usual console, pulling up Gate Diagnostic screens and demanding, "What's the problem, Sergeant?"

Walter, who had about a thousand funny responses running through his head, couldn't help himself. "Well, ma'am, at the moment, your wing is hitting me in the back of the head."

Sam looked at him blankly for a moment and then realized she was still wearing her costume. "Er... right. Sorry about that Sergeant," she said, quickly moving back to the rest of SG1, stepping behind Teal'c to sort of cover herself up. It would have worked, had Teal'c not chosen that moment to go over to Bray'tac and give him a Jaffa greeting and handshake.

Sam sidled over to Daniel, but he had already put the jacket back on and was standing with his arms crossed, as though daring anyone to mock his costume or point out the redundancy of an archaeologist dressed as an archaeologist.

"So, Bray'tac... as you can see, we ah... came as soon as we heard you were here... and I'm guessing you didn't just drop by to crash Carter and Daniel's birthday party..."

"How can one crash a birthday party, Teal'c?" Bray'tac asked quietly. "Are Tau'ri parties held on some sort of flying vessel?"

"It is an expression, Master Bray'tac," Teal'c explained. "O'Neill, perhaps we should go to the conference room?" he suggested firmly, already steering Bray'tac towards the steps.

Jack shrugged and started to follow them.

"Um, sir," Carter stopped him, shifting uncomfortably on her feet and tugging at the hem of her skirt, trying to pull it lower.

He gave a huge 'my hands are tied' shrug and said, "Come on, Carter, we can't keep the Jaffa waiting." With that, he whirled around with an exaggerated flourish of his cape and sauntered over to the stairs.

Daniel and Sam looked at each other and sighed, then followed. Once they were gone, the entire Gate room started laughing and talking loudly about the crazy people in charge of their base. "Did you get that on the security camera, Siler?" Walter asked.

"Of course," Siler said. "Give me a couple of hours and I can probably put together a reel that tracks them from the time they got on the base to now."

"Be sure you send a copy to General Hammond," Walter reminded him.


	6. Stitching

A/N: There's a looong note at the end. Quickly here though I just have to say, the person who compared Pete to Lauren Reed from Alias - that really cracked me up. I suppose the feelings of intense hatred are a bit more justifiable for Ms. Reed, but still, it was an excellent comparison.

Ch 6: Stitching

After their conversation on the roof just before the birthday party had come to an abrupt end, Jack couldn't help but wonder if his 2IC might be secretly harboring some precognitive abilities. Talk about things falling apart! It had just been one crisis after another for so long that while Jack hadn't been able to talk to her about anything not related to work at all, he had spent what little spare time he had worrying about how all of these new changes were going to affect her.

They had talked about losing things, and then they had lost Daniel again, for a while. Then they had lost her father, forever. He was ready for it all to become too much, for it to finally make her fall apart too. Just for a little while; he knew her well enough to know she'd put herself back together faster than anybody could be expected to. But it never even happened.

She fixed something she had held herself responsible for for nearly a year: her Replicator duplicate. She fixed that problem, then went ahead and fixed the Replicator problem for the whole known universe on top of that. A lot of things got fixed. The Jaffa were free, the weapon was destroyed. Daniel came back again, this time choosing to land his naked ass in Jack's office early one morning. But her dad was still gone, so not all of the sudden wave of changes were good. She had surprised him yet again, making complete peace with the loss before he was even gone, telling him she was grateful for the time Selmak had given him.

Maybe he had a little ESP too, he thought as he remembered telling her that when things seemed impossible to fix, he just sat back and waited for her to fix them. She hadn't believed it was possible when he had said it, but he was starting to think that maybe she did now.

A soft knock on the door of his room brought him out of his introspective musings. "Sir, are you ready? General Hammond says we should go ahead and go."

He checked his tie in the mirror and called, "Yeah, I'm ready." They were in General Hammond's new Alexandria home, staying with him for Jacob's funeral. Hammond said the President was insisting on a burial at Arlington with full ceremony. Jack had only been mildly surprised to learn that President Hayes had known Jacob Carter for a long time – he and Hammond knew each other well, after all, and Hammond had known Jacob way before Carter was even born. But Jacob, being Jacob, had never mentioned it.

Jack opened the door and wasn't surprised to find Carter already in the proper mindset for an officer in her dress blues. They had a memorial service for Jacob as they had done for Janet, at home in the Gate room, the day after Daniel came back. Sam wanted Jack to do all the speaking at that one, and at that one she had been a daughter mourning the very personal loss of her father.

While Jack spoke to the crowded Gate room, able to say much more than would be said at this Arlington burial due to security issues, Teal'c and Daniel had stood on either side of her, Daniel holding her hand tightly and Teal'c with his arm around her for physical and emotional support, his hand settled on her shoulder. She had cried during the ceremony, and cried even more in Jack's office afterwards, while everyone else stayed in the Gate room for a wake of sorts.

Jack knew that today she'd put on the same blank, schooled look he would, and be every inch the proper USAF Lieutenant Colonel that she always was.

His prediction was accurate. Maybe they stood slightly closer to each other than most ranking officers usually did, but during the entire lengthy ceremony she never so much as shifted on her feet or darted her eyes to the right or left. Since he was standing next to her doing the same thing, it was a bit of an assumption on his part, but not really. He would have just known if she had started to lose it, even for a split second. He was ready for it, even though he knew it wasn't going to happen. Jacob was the reason she had joined the Air Force in the first place – she would be nothing less than the perfect soldier at his funeral.

After the ceremony, Jack was still standing next to her, although they were both slightly more relaxed. Sam was watching her brother and his family, who were a few yards away. Jack was just about to suggest that she go talk to them while he caught up to Hammond when she surprised him by saying the three little words he had only dared hope he'd ever hear from her.

"Wanna go fishing?"

It took him a few moments to form a response, as he wasn't entirely sure he had heard her correctly. She stepped in front of him with a slightly amused look in her eyes, knowing she had shocked the hell out of him.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do," he finally said with a half-smile. "I need to talk to Hammond first."

She started to say she hadn't meant right this very second but decided against it. In for a penny... as the cliché went. It was her turn to look a little bit surprised, but she nodded in her brother's direction and said, "I'll be..."

"Right."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

General Hammond wasn't surprised when only General O'Neill and Colonel Carter came to Arlington. He knew they had their own ceremony for Jacob back home that the rest of SG1, and probably the entire base as well would attend, and he himself would have preferred going to that one in all honesty, but his schedule wouldn't allow it, unfortunately. He'd been glad to have the General and Colonel stay with him even for such a short time, and knew Jacob would be proud of how his daughter was handling his death.

Hammond also wasn't surprised when Jack O'Neill walked up to him as he spoke quietly with the President, looked back and forth between both of them, and said simply, "We need to talk."

Hammond exchanged a 'well, this is it' look with President Hayes, already knowing what O'Neill was about to say. Hammond had, truth be told, been waiting for this for a good many years, on one level or another. But when he had picked his two favorite officers up at the airport, he had just _known _that it was going to happen now, on this trip. He had warned the President, but they still weren't sure exactly what they were going to do about it, but they both agreed they had to do something, find some sort of compromise that O'Neill could live with, at least for a while, that wouldn't completely deprive the program of one of its most valuable assets. Hammond nodded somberly and said, "Yeah, Jack, we do. But not right now."

"George..."

"One week," President Hayes interrupted them both, patting Jack's shoulder encouragingly.

"Sir?" Jack asked, clearly trying to remain respectful.

"We'll talk in one week," the President repeated. "Report to the White House then. For the moment, would you please go tell your Colonel Carter I'd like a word with her? I don't want to interrupt her family, and the Secret Service guys can be a little intimidating, especially for the kids. Jacob's grandchildren?"

"Yes, sir," Hammond answered.

"I'll... go get her, sir," Jack said distractedly, nodding to them both and walking away, clearly preoccupied with the sub-text of their entire conversation, not the least of which was the President's strange choice of possessive pronouns.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Jack pushed the cryptic conversation to the back of his mind as he approached the Carter family. "Oh, Carter, the President is asking for you," he said in a loud and casual voice, glancing quickly at her niece and nephew, who looked suitably impressed, no doubt thinking they had the coolest Aunt on the planet. If they only knew, Jack thought, concealing a smile.

"Thank you, sir," she replied, quickly excusing herself. Jack watched her go and turned back to her family a bit reluctantly. He wasn't sure what to say or do around her brother – he knew he was close friends with Pete and had actually introduced them, so he was probably a little bit upset about the broken-off engagement.

Mark's wife, luckily, was a woman who exuded friendliness. "It's been nice to finally get to meet you, General O'Neill, even under these circumstances. Jacob always spoke very highly of you."

"Thank you, Karen," Jack said sincerely. Sam was coming back over to them, looking mildly distracted. "What's up?"

"He said I'm on an emergency personal leave of absence for at least a week. I'm not sure why he was making such a big deal about drawing out the specifics of my downtime, but he repeated it twice," Sam said, shrugging it off as unimportant. "Then he said some really nice things about my father, and told me a really sweet story about Dad borrowing his car one time when his wouldn't start in the base parking lot, to get home for my first dance recital."

"Sounds like Dad, all right," Jack agreed. "I'm not so sure about the dance recital part though," he added lightly with a small smirk.

She closed her eyes briefly as though summoning up patience from some hidden reservoir and said, "General Hammond is waiting for us if you're ready to leave."

"Ready when you are."

She nodded. They said goodbye to her brother's family, knowing they would all be over at Hammond's for dinner that night, then joined General Hammond again. The President had just left. They followed Hammond out to his car, Sam climbing in the backseat before Jack could argue about it. He settled in the front, which was really much better for his knees. Nobody spoke until they were a good distance from the cemetery. Then Hammond said casually, "I'm thinking of dropping by the SGC for a few days... maybe a long weekend."

Jack glanced sideways at him, but Hammond was looking resolutely ahead. Jack correctly interpreted the offer Hammond was extending and pulled out his cell phone, waiting impatiently for Daniel to pick up. When he finally answered, Jack said, "Daniel, we're finishing our interrupted party. You and Teal'c meet us at the cabin. Bring my truck, my dog, your fishing rods, and the beer. Hell, bring Quarks while you're at it too."

"Wh..." Daniel started on the other end of the line, but Jack flipped the phone shut without waiting for an argument. He glanced at Sam in the rearview mirror, but she didn't offer any objections.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Unfortunately, Jack's spur-of-the-moment plan was thwarted when Daniel interrupted dinner with the Hammonds and Carters to tell Jack that a crate containing a ZPM and 'some even weirder stuff' had been found right in their own backyard, relatively speaking. On Earth, at any rate. Why was it always one extreme or the other? Egypt or Antarctica... you'd think the Goa'uld would have chosen nicer spots. Something tropical, maybe...

Jack sighed as he pocketed his cell phone and went to go tell Carter. She'd be thrilled, of course, and Jack was too, deep down on the inside. But it had taken eight years to get her to agree to go up to the cabin, and now their plans were postponed for what would probably be a good long while. Ah, well. At least it wouldn't be eight more years.

When he rejoined the group, Sam was holding her youngest nephew, Michael, on her lap, even though Jack thought the kid looked way too big to be sitting on anyone's lap. He reluctantly dragged her away from the kid and into the next room, locking eyes with Hammond on the way so that he followed them in there as well. He quickly filled them in and had to roll his eyes at how excited the letters 'ZPM' made his 2IC. "We have to get back there immediately!" she exclaimed, turning to Hammond. "Sir, is there any way you can arrange for a..."

"Consider it done, Colonel," Hammond said, just as happy about the discovery as she was. Just happier in a much subtler way. "Go pack."

Sam turned to go but Jack stopped her by saying casually, "Carter, aren't you forgetting something?"

She gave him a blank look.

"I seem to recall you being put on a leave of absence recently..." he hinted.

"Oh, come on, sir, you _have _to order me back on active duty!" She actually looked scared for a moment that she'd be left out of the big find. "Please?" she added belatedly.

"All right, fine, go." He waved her away, trying not to act like it bothered him that she apparently hadn't even noticed this meant cancelling their flight to Minnesota for later that evening. He turned to George once they were alone and said, "Any chance of a rain check on that babysitting gig, sir? After we finish up with this little 'discovery,' of course?"

"All right, Jack. I'll go brief the President and make your travel arrangements. Be sure to keep me posted."

"As always, sir."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

In Jack's opinion the 'big discovery' turned out to really be a 'big waste of time and frequent flier miles.' They went back to Colorado only to have Daniel update them and learn that they didn't need to do _anything, _for a change. Apparently they already had, two weeks from now, so they didn't have to now. Or something like that. It was complicated. All Jack really cared about was the 'we do nothing, fishing trip back on' part.

Just to be sure, he volunteered to take the ZPM up to the eager little scientists, who hovered around him as soon as they saw the crate, like gnats. Extra-annoying gnats (because the comparison to gnats did not adequately describe how irritating these guys could be, especially Felger) with glasses and lab coats. Still, if he had let Carter bring it up herself, there was a very real possibility she'd be a willing captive there for a loooong time. Geeks and their toys. So, he carried the crate up to the geek department himself while he sent Carter off to pack, then went to find Daniel and Teal'c and tell them the trip/continued birthday party was back on.

He was surprised when they didn't seem too excited about it. "What's wrong, guys?"

"We both have much work to do here, O'Neill," Teal'c stated.

"Really?" Jack asked, surprised.

"Indeed," Teal'c confirmed, giving Daniel a look.

Daniel quickly added, "Lots to do. Cataloguing, translating... all that stuff that came with the ZPM... hey, here's an idea. Why don't you and Sam head on up there today, that'll give us time to get our work done tomorrow, and Teal'c and I will join you... tomorrow night?"

"You bring the beer," Jack stipulated as he left them, waving on his way out as an afterthought.

After he was gone, Daniel turned to Teal'c.

"We have much work to do?" he questioned, knowing very well that there was nothing that couldn't wait a few days.

Teal'c shrugged slightly, his right eyebrow and the right side of his mouth both going up in tandem.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Jack, Maggie standing beside him and hitting him repeatedly in the leg with her wagging tail, knocked on Sam's door loudly, impatient to get out of Colorado Springs before somebody found some other reason to keep them here. When he failed to get a response, he tried the door, surprised that it was open.

"You know, I've been told it's not very wise to leave your front door unlocked," he called as he entered and started looking around for Sam. Of course, it was Maggie who found her first. By the time he got to her bedroom, his dog was already lying in the middle of Sam's bed next to an open bag halfway full of clothes, sprawled on her back happily while Sam scratched the dog's tummy.

"At least the people breaking into _my _house are people I know, sir," Sam commented, going back over to her closet to finish packing.

"Good point. Although technically we do _know _Kinsey and I _sort of _knew Joe."

"True," she conceded.

Jack watched Quarks leap up onto the bed and dive bomb Maggie by way of greeting. "Need any help?" Jack offered.

Sam shook her head, zipped up her bag, and said, "I'm ready." She leaned over the bed to pet Quarks and said, "Bye, have fun with Morgan."

"I thought you were bringing him," Jack said as they headed for the door.

"I thought you were joking when you told Daniel to bring him," she countered.

"Well... but Maggie's coming."

"Quarks doesn't like car rides, sir. Lots of cats don't. It would be torturous for all of us. Just taking him to the vet is an ordeal, and that's only about three miles from my house. Maybe if it was a longer stay, I could give him a tranquilizer... but it's not worth all the trouble."

"Oh. Too bad for you, Mags," Jack commented as they got into the truck.

Once they were well on their way, an uncomfortable silence fell over the truck. The awkwardness that often sprung up between them when they were alone and off-duty (sometimes on-duty as well) was back with a vengeance.

Jack drove thru a place for something to eat since they couldn't leave Maggie alone in the car. Sam, who hadn't really eaten very much since her father died, picked at her sandwich absently while Maggie leaned over her seat from behind, eyeing Sam's meal hopefully. Sam carefully tore off a large piece, glanced over at Jack to make sure he was preoccupied with driving and eating his own meal, and started to slip it to Maggie.

The silence of the truck was shattered with a familiar, "ACK!" that made Sam jump guiltily in her seat and give Maggie an apologetic, "Don't blame it on me."

"If you feed her in the truck she might throw up in the truck. And from where she's sitting right now, you'd be the prime target anyway," Jack pointed out.

"Oh. I'm sorry, I can't eat all this, I'm not hungry."

"Try," he said around a big mouthful of his own sandwich.

They ate quietly for several minutes. Maggie used the back of the front bench seat as a drool napkin. Finally, Sam said, "Did you mean it?"

"Mean what?"

"What you said to Daniel. About finishing our party at the cabin."

"Sure," he shrugged

"Does that... did you mean picking up where we left off?"

"Nope." He waited for a few seconds, unable to resist teasing her a bit. She just looked so surprised, and a little bit offended. Before she had a chance to get all ruffled, he clarified, "We can't do that."

"Why not?" _Ooo-kay_, she thought immediately to herself. _Let's just try to dial back the petulance just a little bit, shall we? _

"Things have changed," he said simply.

"Yeah, you're right," she agreed slowly. They smiled at each other a bit awkwardly before Jack turned his attention back to the road.

"Figured it out yet?" Jack asked a few minutes later.

"Hmm?"

"Why the President and Hammond kept telling you that you're on a leave of absence," Jack prompted.

"Oh... no."

"Want me to explain it to you?" he asked patiently.

She rolled her eyes. "You're having a lot of fun with this, aren't you sir?"

"Yup." He grabbed a few of her French fries.

"All right, explain it to me," Sam said impatiently, internally adding, _there's something I'm not used to saying to the General. _

"If you're on a leave of absence it means that no matter what you do, you're not responsible to the Air Force. You can't be court-martialed or anything." He looked at her steadily, waiting for her mind to fill in the gaps of that, and realize all of its implications.

She looked at him in surprise, realizing he was right, but then furrowed her brow. "So? If you're saying what I think you're saying, that doesn't really make much difference. First of all, you've just got a few days off, so _you're_ still very much responsible to the Air Force. Second of all, I'm not about to take some break from reality for a few days and then go back and pret..." she stopped, frowned, and looked at him sharply. "You're quitting," she stated.

"Not really. They won't let me quit. I've got a meeting with Hammond and the President in about a week. They won't let me retire, I know that much. I mean, Hammond still isn't retired himself. I don't know what's going to happen, to tell you the truth but..."

"But you're leaving the SGC," she pressed, looking disappointed and more than a little betrayed.

"I'm not leaving you," he said simply. "Or Daniel, or Teal'c. Look, maybe I did a decent job there, but there are other people who can do that job too. You were right before, that night on the roof. It was taking a lot out of me. And keeping a lot from me."

They traveled in silence for several moments, not saying anything, just like they hadn't really said anything when she told him about breaking up with Pete. When she had told him, Jack had just nodded thoughtfully and said, "So... we're done with all that?" She nodded and got uncomfortable, then quickly made up a reason to leave before things got too awkward. He hadn't minded - as soon as the door closed he did a little happy dance in his chair that he didn't want anybody to know about. Ever.

There seemed to be a silent agreement on both their parts from that point on that they didn't really need to talked about it. Sam was about to break some parts of that agreement.

Eventually, she asked, "Were you really going to kiss me goodbye that night? Before Daniel showed up?" She knew he had been, of course, but it was the only way she could think of to bring that situation back up at the moment.

"Yeah, but I didn't think it was really going to be goodbye," he said, as though discussing the weather. He pulled into a gas station to fill the tank and let Maggie out.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, crumpling up the remnants of her meal and shoving them into a paper bag to dispose of them.

"Nothing. Just... I don't know how to explain it." He twisted in his seat so he could give her an apologetic look, temporarily ignoring the impatient dog in the backseat, who was getting antsy since they had stopped moving and not let her get out.

Sam was getting frustrated. He was being particularly obtuse, and doing it deliberately. Maybe she needed to try being even more direct than she already was. "Show me."

"Are you giving me orders now?" he asked, his tone mildly amused.

"You said the Air Force can't hold me responsible for anything I do this week," she reminded him.

"Hmm, good thing Daniel and Teal'c are joining us tomorrow then, huh." She actually blushed, which made Jack laugh. "All right, all right. If you're going to _order _me to show you... You know what a stickler I am for following orders..." He unbuckled his seatbelt and scooted closer to her on the bench seat. She was already facing him, looking a little nervous - this was stretching their 'tradition' a lot further than they ever had before. "Let's see, if I recall, my hand was... here," he said lightly, cupping her cheek in his hand. "Yup, that's where it was."

She smiled and he could feel it against his palm. "I was going to make myself kiss you happy birthday/goodbye like this." He leaned forward, tilted his head slightly and pressed his mouth against hers softly at first, then more firmly as he shifted and trapped her bottom lip between both of his. He lingered for a few seconds and pulled away, staying close enough so that when she opened her eyes all she could really see was his face.

It was definitely more than friendly, but it was also much less passionate than any of their other kisses had ever been, even the one (okay, _two, _she had sort of cheated a little bit on that one, sneaking that second one in on a technicality) from the year Daniel was gone and they had a private party, just the two of them. It was not, to put it bluntly, the sort of madly passionate 'Don't leave me please' liplock she remembered expecting (and hoping for) that night on top of his freezing roof.

He smiled and got out of the truck before she could say anything, busying himself with pumping the gas. Sam turned to Maggie, who was looking at her with a sort of 'what was that' look. "I'm not sure," Sam answered quietly as she clipped Maggie's leash to her collar and got out. After seeing to Maggie's toilet needs, she returned the dog to Jack and then saw to her own, buying coffee inside for both of them. Jack was ready to go by the time she got back to the truck.

"All set?" he asked as Maggie hopped back over into the backseat.

"Sure. Want me to drive for a while?"

"Sure." He handed over the keys and went round to the other side. Sam was mildly surprised that he had agreed so easily, but was glad to have something else to focus on besides the current path their conversation was taking. And that puzzling kiss, which she supposed was technically a leftover from the birthday party.

"So... what do you mean, _made _yourself?" Sam asked after they were back on the highway.

"Huh?" He played dumb to stall, but she wasn't falling for it.

"What did you mean you would have _made _yourself do it like that?" Hey, she figured that was a better way to phrase her inquiry rather than something along the lines of, 'well, that was more than a little disappointing, what's up with that, sir?'

"Well... if I really thought it was goodbye... it would have been a lot different," he hedged, watching her carefully from the passenger seat. With her driving, he could watch her reactions a lot better, but he also didn't have a lot with which to distract himself when he needed to.

"Different how?" she pressed.

He gave her the 'you asked for it' look and said simply, "I never would have stopped."

Her cheeks turned pink again and it made him smile. "What made you so sure it wasn't?" she asked quietly after several moments of silence.

"I just knew. I know you, Carter. You're the smartest person in the galaxy. I knew you were never going to marry Pete."

"I was engaged to him for a long time..." she argued. Was he saying he didn't take her seriously? That he thought she had just treated everyone's feelings: his, hers, and Pete's, so lightly for almost a year? She realized she had started speeding, pressing harder on the gas pedal the more frustrated she got. She eased up and set the cruise control. If he caused her to get a speeding ticket he'd never let her hear the end of it.

"You were engaged a long time ago too," he reminded her in the tone of voice he always used when he wanted to calm her down before she got too upset. "You broke it off with Jonas when you realized it wasn't right. And you were just a kid then. Why should I expect anything different from you now, after... everything? Daniel and Teal'c thought I'd lost my mind completely, and Cassie wanted to strangle me, but, well, if there's one thing I've learned since I've met you it's that you always make good, smart decisions. That doesn't mean it was easy waiting around for you to stop being so stubborn though," he added lightly.

Despite the repeated faith that she would make the 'smart' decision, he was making her feel stubborn and stupid, two things she really, really couldn't stand. Still, it was sort of endearing that he had truly believed she would never actually marry Pete. He'd definitely been the only one who felt that way, at any rate. "You could have saved your patience and you could have saved me a lot of confusion and frustration if you just would have _said _something, you know!"

"Yeah, I know," he agreed, nodding. "That was another one of those things that made everyone want to kill me."

"Me included, at times," Sam admitted.

"Don't you get it though, Sam?" Her eyes widened slightly and she shook her head. "Wow, I don't remember ever being the one doing so much explaining."

"I wouldn't get used to it, sir."

"Is that snippiness?" he asked, looking way too entertained by all of this. He really needed to be thrown off-balance, badly. Maybe later. Right now, Sam wanted to hear everything she could get out of him.

"Sir."

"Okay. See, I didn't want you to break up with Pete because I told you to, or even because I wanted you to. Especially when, at the time, it would have just meant we'd both be alone again, for some other indeterminable length of time. That sounds a lot less selfish than it actually was. I just... I've spent most of the time I've known you telling you to do things, knowing you'd do them just because I told you to. That's the whole point of a chain of command, and I think after all we've been through we could both write a book on the subject. I didn't want anything that might eventually happen with us personally to have anything to do with that."

She watched him carefully for a few moments as all of that sank in and finally said, "Well, you certainly made your point."

"Yeah, I guess I did."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"How did you do it?"

"Do what?" Jack asked. The truck had been completely silent for quite a while, so he wasn't sure if they were continuing their earlier conversation or restarting an even older one.

"I mean... no offence, sir, but usually you're not the most patient person around, and... well, you didn't say anything for a _long _time. And, well... this is kind of embarrassing to admit but I clearly couldn't have done what you did."

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean... the thing with Kerry Johnson... even when I just saw her in your office, and Pete was in town to plan the wedding and meet Dad, and I didn't even know there was anything going on I still..."

"You were jealous?" Jack asked, unable to keep the smug grin off his face. She didn't say yes, but she didn't say no either. She focused her attention back on driving.

"Maybe," she finally mumbled.

"I wasn't trying to make you jealous with Kerry, but I'm not saying that's not kind of... fun to hear. I honestly didn't want anybody to find out about that, because it was just... a bad idea. I knew that going into it. I guess it was sort of an experiment or something. But I wasn't expecting it to work."

"So you were..."

"I wasn't using her or anything," Jack said quickly. "Not really. I never would have thought of it in the first place if she hadn't um, you know, come onto me. First. And... fairly... strongly. And then right after that you asked if Pete could come on the base to meet Dad... I don't know. She said she wasn't looking for anything serious too so it's not like I..."

"You don't have to explain anything, sir. Least of all to me after all I did."

"Okay... just out of curiosity, you didn't mention anything about Kerry to Daniel or Teal'c, did you?" While Sam wasn't making a fuss about it, Jack had no doubt that her two overprotective teammates would each give them their own particular brands of hell for that little disaster if they knew about it.

"No. If there hadn't been so many other things happening, I would have. But, no."

"Good to know."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

They rode in silence for a long time. Sam tried the radio but they were in a dead zone. She punched it off and they rode in silence some more.

"So..." Jack finally started.

"So... what now?"

"This trip was your idea, I don't know!"

"Sir..."

"If you want, you could try... not saying that every ten seconds," he suggested.

She looked at him sharply. He held up both hands and said, "No pressure. Just... try it. If you want. Then maybe see if you can say my name without a meteor hitting us or something. You did it once before."

"You remember that?" she asked, surprised. He had been so far gone to the Ancient knowledge in his head and being drained from using the chair device that she had always assumed it had never even registered with him in the first place.

"Yeah, I remember that," he said quietly, looking around for something to do with his hands. He started tapping out a rhythm on the windowsill.

"God, this is really awkward, isn't it?" Sam asked.

"Kind of," he agreed. "It reminds me of..."

"My second birthday party?" Sam guessed, since that's what she had been thinking of.

"I wasn't at your second birthday party, Carter. But I bet you smushed cake all over your face and only played with the boxes."

"Very funny. You know what I meant. The second year you threw a birthday party for Daniel and me," she clarified.

"Oh. That. Yeah, actually."

"Yeah," she agreed. "I can't believe you're leaving the SGC," Sam said, shaking her head sadly.

"Nothing's been decided yet. Or even talked about. But... yeah."

"Daniel and Teal'c are going to freak out."

"Yeah, I was thinking maybe you want to tell them?" he tried hopefully. She gave him her biggest 'you've got to be kidding me' look and he said, "Okay, maybe not. But let's not mention it to them on this trip, okay? I don't want them to be thinking about all that. I just want everyone to have a good time."

"I'm sure we will."

They smiled a bit nervously and looked away.

Jack cleared his throat and said, "You know, this would be a lot less awkward if we had some cake."

"Huh?"

"Well, I mean... it was only awkward that second time, right? Every year after that, we didn't talk all that much, at least about... well, you know... feelings and stuff. Our feelings. We talked about yours and Daniel's. Crap. Never mind. I guess that would be cheating anyway, right? Even if we had cake."

"What would?"

"We already kissed for this year."

"True. Although... we _have _bent the rules in the past. Um. Quite a few times, actually. So I don't really think that's the problem here."

"Then what's the problem? I mean, I know things have always been pretty awkward between us in situations like this, but not... not on your birthday. That was always like the holiday from all that crap."

"I know, but... I think... all those other times we knew exactly what was going to happen. All year long, we knew that at the end of my birthday party we'd kiss. But then we also knew that would be it. There weren't any other choices or possibilities or... unknowns or anything. And we got so good at following all the rules because we had no choice that now that the Air Force rules aren't important, we're still having trouble getting rid of the ones we set up for ourselves as well."

"Yeah. Okay then. I have a plan. I think I've done more talking today than I usually do in a week. And I know you're just itching to start reading those books that you've been dragging around with you. And I could use a pit stop, so I'm guessing you and Maggie could as well. So, let's just... get off at the next exit, stop, take a quick break. I'll fill up my thermos with coffee and drive the rest of the way. You read or sleep or whatever, just try to relax a little bit. It'll be really late when we get to the cabin, we just get some sleep, do whatever we want tomorrow, then tomorrow night when Teal'c and Daniel get there we'll finish your birthday party and then just... see. Sort of a Restart. For everything that... that happened last time. Sound... okay?"

"That sounds great actually."

Sam quickly found a well-lit convenience store and pulled into the near-empty parking lot, stopped the car, and turned to face him, but couldn't quite look him fully in the eye. "I'm sorry. Sorry this is so weird. I don't know..."

"You're missing the whole part where I said _relax. _That what fishing is all about, you're not going to catch anything tomorrow if you don't calm down a little bit," he teased.

She laughed and got out of the truck, calling, "I seriously doubt that'll be the reason I don't catch anything in your empty lake!"

"It's not empty!" he insisted as he fumbled with Maggie's leash while Sam headed off.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

It got better after that. They still rode in silence, mostly, but it was comfortable. Sam fished one of her new books out of her bag and curled up sideways on the bench seat with it, her back against the door. She had her legs bent so that her feet were still flat on the seat, but had already taken off her shoes, and Jack figured eventually she'd relax further and stretch out across the seat.

The silence was broken by Sam randomly laughing at whatever she was reading. Finally, Jack had to ask. "What's so funny in... what are you reading anyway?"

"_Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces that Shape the Universe,_" she told him.

"Sounds like a laugh riot," Jack said sarcastically, but she could tell he was amused by the fact that she was amused.

"It's just... some of it's all right, some of it's pretty good actually, but a lot of it is so reductive... and it generalizes and..." she stopped and smiled apologetically at him. He was driving, so he wasn't looking at her, but even only in profile, in the dimly lit cabin of the truck, she could tell he was bored. "And... you don't care."

"No, I care!" he insisted, mainly just to keep her talking. Bizarrely, reading complex theoretical science junk was, for whatever reason, actually relaxing to her. "Six numbers, huh? Even I can remember six numbers. Let's hear 'em."

"Oh... okay. Well I haven't finished it yet, but I'm pretty sure I know where he's going... there's epsilon, nu, omega, delta, lamda, and Q."

"Those aren't numbers," he stated.

"Actually, they are. Nu is a ratio that compares the strength of electrical forces that can hold atoms together to the force of gravity, which of course is ten to the 37th power..."

"Of _course,_" he agreed, shooting her an 'amused by your geekiness' look.

"The others are... slightly more complicated," she said.

"Well, I can see why it has you laughing so much... actually, no I can't. Carter, haven't you ever heard of _light _reading?"

"This _is _light reading!" she insisted. "It's... fun to see how misguided some of the popular efforts are, is all. It used to frustrate the hell out of me, actually. When we first started working at the SGC. Seeing new publications by people considered 'experts' that I knew as students or had as old professors... seeing them praised for things I knew for fact to be completely inaccurate... it was hard."

"I can imagine," he said with genuine sympathy. If her job wasn't top secret, no doubt she'd be one of the most famous scientists today... although admittedly that would really only make her famous to _other _scientists...

"Anyway. At some point, and after watching Daniel and talking to him about that type of thing for a long time, I figured, hey, it's really just free disinformation when you think about it. And then I started to get a kick out of it. Eventually."

"I still think you could do with some _lighter _reading," Jack informed her. "When we get to the cabin, you can borrow my Homer book and my Bart book."

"Thanks," she said sweetly. "And you can borrow this one."

"Er... thanks."

She laughed and said, "So, since there's no television at your cabin, you've stocked it with books _about _a television show."

"The Simpsons is not _just _a television show, Sam."

"How do you do that?" she asked curiously.

"Do what?"

"You call me Carter most of the time but sometimes you call me Sam and it still sounds... normal."

He shrugged. "It's your name."

"I know that, but..."

"But you still can't say anything other than 'sir' and 'General," he finished. "That's okay. At least you haven't said 'sir' in a while. Maybe it's because I already call you by _a _name most of the time, so going from Carter to Sam isn't as big a deal?"

"Maybe," she agreed, furrowing her brow as she tried to figure out why it was such a big deal to her and not to him.

"Hey, cut it out, you're supposed to be relaxing," Jack interrupted her thoughts. "Don't try to force it, just... I don't know. Let it happen when it happens. Get back to your book about the wacky funny numbers."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

When it got dark, he leaned over and fished a small flashlight out of the glove compartment so she could keep reading. "Thanks, J...General."

He raised his eyebrows but didn't comment on the aborted attempt.

A few hours from the cabin, she fell asleep. It was a pretty boring trip after that, and he was glad to finally pull up to his isolated cabin - he really, really had to go to the bathroom. So badly in fact that he left Sam and Maggie in the truck as he made a mad dash inside to use the facilities, only stopping to grab their bags and toss them down just inside the door on his way. He justified it to himself by saying that he needed to thoughtfully turn on a few lights so that Sam would be able to see where she was going.

He returned to the truck, let Maggie out, and woke Sam up. She blinked at him drowsily and looked around. "We're here already?"

"Yeah. Go on in, I turned on some lights already. I'm going to walk Maggie real quick."

"Kay," she said around a big yawn, clearly only half awake.

When Jack and Maggie went back inside, Jack's arms full of various supplies, he was surprised to find that Sam was still practically asleep on her feet. She'd obviously found the bathroom and had already changed into her pajamas. "I didn't know where..." she started.

"Oh. Right. Er, follow me." He showed her into his bedroom and grabbed a pillow and blanket from the closet for himself. He'd just sleep on the couch - it would be easier than sleeping in one of the twin beds in the other tiny bedroom and then having to change the sheets for Teal'c or Daniel. "Just... let me know if you need anything. I'll show you around in the morning."

She'd already collapsed onto the bed and hadn't bothered to burrow under the covers yet, and he was fairly sure she'd already fallen asleep again, so he started out the door, surprised when she mumbled, "Wait."

"What?" he asked, trying not to sound nervous. If she was even remotely conscious she'd demand to know where he was sleeping and put up a fight about who got the couch or whatever.

"Can I have Maggie?"

"What? Oh... yeah, all right. Maggie!" he called. The dog came trotting into the room, spotted Sam on the bed, and started slinking towards her, glancing back at Jack repeatedly as though she thought she was getting away with something. He laughed at his funny dog and said, "I know what you're doing, it's okay just this once. Get on the bed."

Maggie took a flying leap that alarmed Jack, but she had aimed herself carefully and landed lightly next to Sam without squashing her.

"I'm gonna leave the door open so she can get out in the morning, okay?"

"Kay. Night, Jack."

He smiled and wondered if she'd remember saying it in the morning. "Night, Sam."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

A/N: This chapter required massive amounts of rewriting. Luckily, my sister (who gets all of these chapters before you guys do - sorry) caught a mistake. This chapter takes place after Reckoning, Threads, and Moebius, except it's _before _the very last scene of Threads and Moebius. I think it makes sense when you read it (hopefully.) Anyway, originally, I had Jack and Sam leaving for Minnesota right from DC, but my sis reminded me about that scene with the ZPM in a crate, where Jack says Sam needs to go pack. Since I had the whole thing already written, we came up with two solutions to the problem: he meant pack for DC, or this story takes place before the final scene of Threads, but NOT the final scene of Moebius... but I didn't like either of those. The 'you've got packing to do' line was a bit too suggestive for a trip to her father's funeral for me to justify it... so I rewrote, and moved a conversation from the cabin to the truck on the _way _to the cabin... Also, when you get an e-mail response to a chapter that says 'Have you been watching X-Files? You've Mulderized your Jack and Scullyfied your Sam,' and as a matter of fact, you _have _been watching X-Files with your stepson all week... well, that'll make you do some rewriting as well. Anyway, I really hope it makes sense. It was a bit tricky trying to incorporate the events of the last 5 episodes without turning the end of my own series into a post-Threads story. The next chapter will go back to normal BT stuff more. I hope.


	7. Restarting

A/N: This story's now officially my longest and most reviewed... ironically enough it's also rapidly becoming my own personal least favorite. I just have to get over it and write the super-cheesy ending everybody deserves for reading all of these stories. Along those lines, Englemeyer, melpomene-muse of tragedy (and the rest): don't worry - do you really think I'd leave you all with that measly peck in the truck?

BrokenSkye (and the rest): I'm not planning a BT9, since I'm trying not to have anything in these stories that's made impossible by the reality of the show. Since I don't know where our guys will be near the end of next season (beyond the rumors), I won't be making my own guesses. This story is just sneaking itself into the timeline we know so far, which is why Jack's making all these vague allusions to changes without mentioning any specifics.

Originally when I planned this series, year 8 was going to end before Threads, so that Pete and Sam would still be engaged. I had this whole rather dramatic and incredibly depressing fight/talk on the roof b/w Jack and Sam, that would end sadly and without any real resolution. Then I was going to do a 'future' story that had the happy ending everybody wants. That was the plan. But after Threads and Moebius I just didn't feel like writing that type of story. SO, in answer to your question, perhaps eventually I'll do year 9, but I'm expecting to be rather uninspired by next season so I don't want to make any promises. Also, as BT8 is going to have a happy ending, I doubt I'll bother with the futurefluff.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming... SG1-on-downtime is back in this chapter. I'm thinking there will be one or two more chapters after this.

Ch 7: Restarting

When Sam woke up the next morning, she was pinned to the bed by a warm weight, and pinned in place by a pair of dark brown eyes staring at her, only inches from her own sleepy and slightly confused face.

"Morning, Maggie," she said, scratching the dog's ears and trying to get her to back up a little. Not even the sweetest dog in the world had breath you wanted to wake up to. "What's wrong, do you need to go out?"

Maggie answered the question by jumping off the bed, running to the doorway, stopping, and turning around eagerly, plainly trying to ask, 'Are you coming or what?'

"Okay, okay, I'm coming," Sam grumbled getting up with a yawn. Jack must be gone, or surely Maggie would be pestering him to take her outside. She glanced around at the cabin quickly, saving further observations for later, as Maggie was getting rather desperate. She stopped as she spotted a post-it on the door and read it out loud (to Maggie, apparently.)

"Went to get ingredients for world-famous omelet. Maggie needs leash outside. -Jack." He had underlined his name three times. "Subtle, isn't he?" Sam asked Maggie, who clearly had more important problems at the moment than concerning herself with the rapidly changing relationship between her two favorite people.

Sam grabbed Maggie's leash from a hook by the door and clipped it on, wondering why he had specified that she keep his dog on a leash up here. They were completely alone, and Maggie was very well trained. She stepped into the shoes she had discarded the night before when she had sleepily stumbled inside, and took the dog out in her pajamas, hoping Jack hadn't been exaggerating about his nearest neighbor being twenty miles away.

Although Maggie went about her business quickly, Sam walked around outside with her for a while, taking in the scenery and the cabin itself. It was lovely here. Although she still couldn't figure out why Maggie had to be so confined. The dog was clearly itching to run about a little bit. Sam glanced at her watch and was shocked that it was almost eleven. She hadn't slept that late - or well - in forever.

"Well, if you've been inside babysitting me all morning, no wonder you're a little antsy," Sam said, scratching the dog's back. "You'll be a good girl if I take off your leash, right Mags?" she asked. "It'll just be our little secret, okay? No need to tell the Gen... to tell Jack," she tried carefully. Maybe saying it when her only audience was a dog would make it a bit easier to get used to.

She unclipped Maggie's leash and the dog immediately bolted for the lake. Sam realized what Maggie was doing and only had time to call, "Maggie, NO!" before the dog had leapt off the bank and sunk into the water with a loud splash. Sam dropped the leash on the dock and hurried to the edge, clapping her hands and trying to get Maggie back. It was the first time the dog ever ignored her.

"Crap!" Sam said with a heavy sigh, sinking to the dock and watching the dog happily splashing about, looking remarkably like a very large otter. Maggie swam back to the side, got out, and headed straight for Sam, a huge quantity of water pouring off of her. Sam scrambled to her feet and said, "Maggie, don't..." The dog stopped right beside her, shook her whole body, spraying Sam thoroughly in the process of course, and then took a flying leap off the dock.

"I toooooold you so," a familiar voice chanted. It startled her; she hadn't even heard the truck approach as she'd been so focused on getting Maggie out of the water. She jumped and very nearly lost her balance on the edge of the dock but Jack grabbed her arm to steady her with one hand, a bag of groceries hanging from the other.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think she'd..."

"Yeah. It's pretty much impossible to keep a retriever out of the water," he said. "Normally I don't care, but I think it might be a little too cold for her still."

"She doesn't look cold," Sam pointed out as the dog climbed out of the water again and ran over to greet them.

"RUN!" Jack yelled in an overly-dramatic tone, pressing the bag of groceries into Sam's arm. "Save the groceries! Save yourself!"

His dog, who always greeted him as though it had been years since she'd seen him last, jumped on him excitedly, quickly soaking him. "Well, looks like we're all good and wet now, thanks, Mags," he said, patting her wet back.

"Ah well, the damage is done," Jack decided. The dog couldn't get any wetter, so they might as well let her have her fun. He quickly brought in the rest of the groceries and grabbed the tennis balls that lived at the cabin. He and Sam spent the morning sitting on the edge of the dock, drinking coffee and throwing tennis balls into the lake for Maggie to fetch. Luckily, there wasn't much left of morning to spend.

When Jack's stomach growled, he too growled. "Dammit, I forgot. You probably haven't eaten anything, have you?"

"I'm fine. I just got up before you got back."

"Yeah, I guessed, since I doubted pajamas was your usual 'walk the dog' attire," he said with a grin.

"I can't believe I slept so long!" Sam exclaimed, looking embarrassed.

"I can. You needed it," he said simply, getting to his feet. "Let's go get dried off and eat though. Maggie needs a break anyway, she'll never stop on her own."

"She loves it up here as much as you do, I think," Sam commented as Jack clipped the leash back on and led the dog back up to the house.

He stopped on the porch. "Can you go grab me some towels to dry her off?" he asked. Sam nodded and quickly returned with a towel. "Thanks... but you've obviously never seen this dog wet before. I'm going to need about three more."

Fifteen minutes later, Sam no longer had any questions as to why Jack wanted Maggie kept on a leash outside. It was a long process, drying off that much fur, and left Maggie looking rather frizzy and fluffy. Once inside, the dog quickly settled herself by the fireplace, happily exhausted. "Tough life, huh," Jack commented as he passed the dog on his way into the kitchen.

"So, I believe you mentioned something about a world-famous omelet?" Sam asked when Jack entered the kitchen.

He smiled in surprise. "For lunch?"

"Why not?"

"All right... Daniel and Teal'c are bringing the secret ingredient though, but I'll just have to... improvise."

"I knew it was beer," she said with a grin.

"Actually, at the time it was beer. See, the real secret is that you just use whatever you happen to have lying around. So, yes, when I called you that day, I was talking about eggs and beer," he explained as he started pulling ingredients out of the fridge with his back to her so she couldn't see what he was doing. "But today will be... different."

Sam thought about saying that today was already different, but decided that would bring the light mood they had been easily maintaining so far to a halt, so she refrained.

"So, what time are Daniel and Teal'c getting here anyway?" Jack asked as he started fixing breakfast. Or lunch. Whatever.

Sam shrugged. "I have no idea."

"They didn't call?"

"You told me if I brought my phone it was fish food!" Sam reminded him.

"And you actually _listened?" _Jack asked, turning to her in surprise.

"Teal'c told me what you did to his phone. And I just _got _that phone and happen to like it."

"Well... but I didn't bring mine either."

Sam's eyes widened. For all of Jack's joking, he knew as well as she did that they could not be completely out of contact with the SGC. "Why not?" Sam asked.

"I thought you'd bring yours!" Jack insisted again.

"But you..." Sam started, not bothering to finish her sentence. "I guess it doesn't matter. Teal'c and Daniel will bring their phones, or at least one of them will, and they'll be here soon enough. Hopefully there won't be an emergency before then."

"Yeah... hopefully."

After they ate, Sam went off to take a shower, leaving Jack to start getting his fishing gear together. She found him winding fresh line onto the rod and reel he had given her for her birthday two years ago.

He looked up from his task and smiled at the way she was dressed. Jeans and a navy sweater. She really did look relaxed. "Hey, you ready to go fishing?" he asked.

"Right now?"

"You're the one who invited _me _up here to fish, Carter," he teased.

"I know, but..."

"Best fishing is early in the morning, or in the evening. But I figured you might cut me into little pieces and use me as bait if I tried to wake you up this morning. Don't worry, I'll wake you up tomorrow morning bright and early."

"Great," she said dryly.

"But I figured you could use a lesson today, before Daniel and Teal'c get here. We don't have to fish long. Come on."

"Okay, just... give me a few minutes."

"Yeahsureyoubetcha," Jack called as he disappeared down the hall.

Sam quickly found what she was looking for in her suitcase and shook her head – this was all a little surreal. Truth be told, for a long time, she had never expected to actually be here, fishing at the cabin. When he had given her fishing equipment, she had genuinely believed that some day they'd be up here together, at least in some sense of the word.

But after that, so much had happened. She'd doubted they'd ever both survive their jobs long enough to come out here. Then they had, but then there was Pete. She looked down as she zipped up the ridiculously large vest and smiled. Whatever else happened between them this weekend, the fact that they were even up here at all meant that they'd both already gotten lucky. She quickly grabbed the rest of the fishing gear and headed out to the dock.

"All right, I'm ready for the lesson!" Sam called. Jack was already on the dock with his back to her, facing the water, standing up on the empty dock, reeling in a line he had just cast. He turned to her as she joined him and laughed loud enough to scare away all the fish that weren't in his lake.

She was wearing all the goofy fishing gear he'd given her two years ago. He took in the big bucket hat (complete with decorative lure pinned jauntily on one side), vest made almost entirely of pockets, fishing pole in her right hand and tackle box in her left, and shook his head, still chuckling.

"What?" she asked nervously, pulling the slightly-too-big hat down more snugly.

"It's official. You look good in _anything._"

She smiled at the unexpected compliment. They were definitely becoming more relaxed around each other at a surprisingly fast rate compared to the way the past eight years had gone, but that type of attention still caught her off-guard and was more than a little embarrassing.

"Did you read your book about freshwater fish of Minnesota?" he asked, clearing his throat and turning his attention back to the lake, realizing he had made her uncomfortable.

"Why, is there going to be a quiz later?" she challenged.

"Maybe, but hopefully you won't be _that _bored up here. All right. Now, Fishing 101..." He quickly demonstrated how to cast a line into the lake, explaining everything he was doing with both hands and his wrist and thumbs.

"See, piece of cake," he said, smiling at her as he reeled his line back in and set his pole down so he could help her with hers. "Damn, should have told Danny to bring cake..."

"I bet you Teal'c thinks of it," Sam offered.

"Bet what?" Jack asked curiously. He couldn't remember when the last time they had made a bet was... oh yeah, actually he could. The crossword puzzle. Speaking of which, that had never really been resolved... they had all been more than a little side-tracked. "What happened to my crossword puzzle?" he asked.

"Your what?"

"You know. From the last bet?"

"Oh. Umm... Daniel might still have it somewhere in his lab. You wrote a bunch of Ancient stuff in it. Don't you remember?"

"Sort of. All that stuff is kind of like... like remembering a movie you saw a long time ago. You remember it when someone brings it up, but it's not... there... all the time, you know? Just sitting there, ready to be remembered?"

"That's... really weird, sir."

"Yeah, tell me about it. Let's get on with the lesson, huh? There's bugs out here."

"Teal'c warned me about that too."

"That big chicken. Okay, now, you're going to want to take it back this way, to about here..." he leaned around her, drawing her pole back three-quarters of the way.

"Wait, why am I doing it this way? You did it on your right side." It occurred to her after she asked that maybe he was having her cast from the left so he'd have an excuse to put his arms around her while showing her how to do it properly. Then again, maybe not. That was a little juvenile... even for General O'Neill.

He sighed as though he were trying to explain something very simple. "See that spot?" he asked, pointing to a spot right next to them on the dock.

"Yes."

"That's where my chair goes. See this spot right here?"

"Yeah..."

"That's where your chair goes. Get it?"

She looked at him sideways and nodded. "Yeah, I think I do."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The rest of the afternoon went by much faster than either Sam or Jack had expected. They took Maggie on a long walk, and did a few things around the cabin to get ready for Daniel and Teal'c's arrival. Not knowing when they were going to show up, Jack decided to wait on starting dinner until after they arrived. Having nothing left inside the cabin with which to keep himself occupied, Jack finally snatched the book Sam was reading out of her hands and smiled when she objected loudly and made a grab for the book.

"I'm gonna go ahead and fish. If you want to come, give Maggie the bone in the cupboard so she'll keep herself occupied in here."

"Okay."

"And put on bug spray."

"Okay."

He handed the book back to her and went outside, setting up two chairs on the dock and settling himself in one. He was more than a little surprised when Sam joined him almost immediately, and she had chosen not to don the fishing hat and vest this time. He was inordinately pleased with that, and decided to assume that it was because she wanted that to remain an inside joke between the two of them. True, it was far more likely she just didn't want to look goofy in front of Teal'c and Daniel, but he chose to believe the former rather than the latter.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as she took a few moments to get settled, and stretched his legs out comfortably in front of him, crossing his ankles. Truthfully, he hadn't really known what to expect when she asked to come here. He wasn't completely dense, of course. He knew it wasn't really about fishing, just like calling him 'Jack' wasn't really about his name, but that didn't really mean it was suddenly time to jump into something they still, even after all this time, weren't ready for either. And most of the trip up to the cabin had reinforced that thought - they still both needed more time.

Now, he wasn't so sure. Today had been... normal. Which was weird, because they didn't do normal. Individually or together. Apparently they could though.

He purposefully avoided wearing a watch at his cabin, so he didn't know what time it was when Daniel and Teal'c did show up, but it wasn't quite getting dark yet. They immediately came out to the dock and greeted them both, Sam getting up to hug them but Jack too comfortable to move.

"Just take all your crap inside and get out here with the beer," Jack called.

"You're such a charming host, Jack, have I ever told you that?" Daniel asked sarcastically.

"I do not believe you have, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c answered.

"Okay well enough chit-chat, I've had to pee for about sixty miles but Teal'c wouldn't stop," Daniel said quickly, practically running back up to the cabin.

Sam watched him go, laughing. Jack twisted in his chair and called at Daniel's retreating form, "Have I ever told you what a charming guest you are, Danny?"

Sam and Jack settled back in their chairs and turned their attention back to fishing.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Daniel and Teal'c took their time inside after Daniel's initial sprint to the toilet. They brought in their things and dumped them in the smaller bedroom. Daniel looked at the neatly made twin beds and frowned at Teal'c. "Where exactly do you think they slept last night?"

"That, Daniel Jackson, is none of our business, as you would say."

"_I _would never say that," Daniel objected. "It's completely our business, we've been waiting for them to get together forever!"

"Very well. Then, as the Tau'ri in general would say, that is none of our business." Teal'c headed back out to the truck to get the ice chest, their folding chairs, and fishing poles. When Daniel joined him, he added, "However, to satisfy your curiosity, there is a blanket and pillow resting on the couch."

"Oh," Daniel said, not sure at this point if he was relieved or disappointed. Of course he wanted Jack and Sam together. But there were still rules. Stupid rules, but rules they both valued nonetheless.

"Although both Colonel Carter and O'Neill seem much more comfortable and happy than I have seen them in a long time."

"True..." Daniel said. "So... what's the verdict?"

"What does it matter?" Teal'c responded. "Please pick up that end of the ice chest, Daniel Jackson."

"Even if you _did _know you wouldn't tell me, would you?" Daniel asked as they carried the ice chest and their fishing gear around the back of the cabin to the dock, where Sam was laughing about something quietly and smiling at Jack. Daniel looked at them suspiciously. They were impossible to read today. At least the backs of their heads were, at any rate.

"It is unlikely," Teal'c replied. They set down the ice chest and unfolded their chairs. Daniel immediately grabbed two beers from the ice chest and took them over to Sam and Jack, handing them to each from behind, leaning over slightly, trying to answer his own questions from their body language.

"What are you doing, Danny?" Jack finally asked.

"Nothing. I just didn't realize there was a uniform for this trip," Daniel commented.

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked, turning sideways to look at him. Daniel looked down at her outfit pointedly. Sam looked down at herself and shrugged, then looked at Jack and rolled her eyes. She hadn't even noticed that they were dressed rather similarly, in jeans and navy long-sleeved tops.

"Shut up, Daniel," she grumbled, looking back at the lake and willing her cheeks from turning pink.

"Well put, Carter," Jack agreed, making a shooing motion at Daniel. Daniel narrowed his eyes suspiciously at both of them and went back to his chair.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

While Sam was genuinely happy that Daniel and Teal'c had joined them for many reasons, there was one thing about their presence that she was finding objectionable. True, the added company did remove ninety percent of the tension between herself and Jack, but that had been dwindling away on its own rather nicely. And, yes, she was happy to spend time with the good old SG1 together as they probably never would be again. She doubted Teal'c would find much happiness at the SGC without Jack there. Who knew what would end up happening to all of them?

Best not to think about that now. Now, she was just grateful that Teal'c had survived the Jaffa rebellion and that Daniel had, once again, miraculously risen from the 'dead.'

Yet she couldn't help but notice that immediately upon their arrival, Jack had completely clammed up. He was his usual wry self with all of them and seemed perfectly content in his favorite place with his favorite people. But before the guys had shown up, he had been touching her a lot. Nothing remarkable, just glancing, easy touches on her forearms, shoulders, or back – a fraction of a second too long to be accidental but not quite long enough to be classified as a caress either.

At first she thought he was trying to drive her mad, in any or all senses of the word. But then she remembered doing the same thing to Daniel when he came back to them (_after _he had put some clothes on, of course). She had just needed to check, to make sure he was really there. Maybe that was the motive behind what Jack was doing as well. So maybe he had stopped because the need to reassure himself that they were both very real and very much there had finally gone, or maybe he wasn't sure how she would react if he continued in front of the guys. Truthfully, Sam wasn't entirely sure of the answer to that herself.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Sam and Jack were doing such a wonderful job at driving Daniel completely insane with curiosity about what, exactly, was the status of their relationship now, that he was beginning to wonder if they were just intentionally trying to irritate him. He had watched them flirt in a very covert way for years. Now he was watching them both flirt more openly. But there was still a lot of nervousness there, especially in Sam.

Daniel and Teal'c told Jack and Sam that the entire SGC now had tapes of the four of them running around the base in their costumes. Sam was the most embarrassed of all at that revelation, which was understandable considering how she had been dressed.

"Don't worry, Sam," Daniel said quickly. "Teal'c and I already took care of it. That video is old news around the SGC water cooler now."

"What did you do?" Jack and Sam asked together.

"We..."Daniel started.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow pointedly. "All right, fine, _I,_" Daniel corrected. "May have circulated some security footage of Sergeant Davis..."

"Walter?" Jack asked, surprised. "What did the poster boy for proper Air Force procedure and protocol do that could possibly be more embarrassing than us showing up for an emergency in those costumes?"

"Well..." Daniel began.

"He greeted General Hammond most enthusiastically when he arrived to resume command of the SGC in your absence, O'Neill," Teal'c told him.

"That traitor," Jack muttered quietly. Sam patted his arm 'sympathetically,' although Jack was fairly certain she was using the gesture to mock him more than placate him.

"You've got to see it when we get back," Daniel continued, laughing at the memory. "He just sits there for a few seconds, right, like maybe he's hallucinating or something, and Hammond goes, 'At ease, Sergeant,' and Walter shoots up from his chair and throws himself at Hammond, knocking him back into Siler with the force of his hug, and the whole time he's muttering, 'Thank you, thank you, thank you.'"

"You've got to be exaggerating, Daniel," Sam said hesitantly.

"He is not," Teal'c said. Well, that certainly settled the matter.

"But wait, this is the best part. When he knocked Hammond into Siler, Siler tripped. He crashed right into the coffee station, sent donuts rolling all over the control room, broke the carafe, then he stepped on a jam donut, slipped on it, and crashed to the ground. He's got a sprained wrist and, from what Lieutenant Rush tells me, a large multicolored bruise on his ass that's shaped a lot like Florida."

"Oh, Siler," Jack said with a long-suffering sigh. The poor man was really going to get himself hurt beyond repair one of these days. Although at least in this case it was Walter's fault.

Sam was trying very hard not to laugh at poor Siler's fall and the reasons behind it, but she finally gave it up. "I'm sorry," she gasped between laughing. "I know it's terrible to laugh at them, but... well, they _were _the ones behind distributing _our _tape, so... oh God..." she continued laughing, unable to keep speaking, until she hiccupped loudly.

The three men all looked at her, as if they couldn't have been more stunned if she had suddenly started speaking Ancient.

"Hmm, usually Danny is the first one to have his supply cut off," Jack commented as he tugged the half-empty bottle of beer out of her hand.

She knew he was just teasing, of course, as that half-full bottle was also her first, but she was still laughing so hard it was probably for the best anyway; she was likely to drop it in her current condition.

"Sam, are you okay?" Daniel finally asked, watching her alternate between laughing, hiccupping, and trying to breathe.

"Y-yeah..." She gradually got control of herself, which was a good thing, because Jack and Daniel had begun debating the 'best' hiccup cure to inflict upon her, although 'best' in this situation seemed to mean 'most strange and humiliating' rather than 'most effective.'

"I'm okay, I'm okay," she insisted, as they were arguing over whether drinking beer from the opposite side or upside down would have the same effect as water.

"See, Carter, that's why I had to make that rule about giggling," Jack said as he handed her beer back to her once all the commotion had died down.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Sam called Jack by his first name three times, but each time she and Jack looked more surprised about it than Daniel felt, so Daniel still wasn't really sure what was going on with two of his best friends.

Daniel was spraying liberal amounts of bug spray on the Teal'c's back half when his cell phone rang. He wiped his hands on his shirt, frowning. "Teal'c, I think you've got a phobia about bugs or something," Daniel commented as he pulled out his phone and glanced at the display. He smiled as he answered, "Hi Cassie."

"Hey. So, what have I missed? Are they or aren't they?" Cassie asked quickly, not bothering to ease into the reason for her call at all.

"Umm... well, we're all just out here fishing!" Daniel said cheerfully, not wanting to give away their conversation to Jack and Sam, who were both trying to listen in. "Um, I'm going to go inside and... wash the bug spray off my hands!"

Yes, he _was _rather proud of coming up with that excuse.

"Daniel, you are a lousy liar," Cassie was telling him over the phone as he hurried into the cabin. "Now, come on, answer my question!"

Once inside, Daniel said, "Cassie, I wish you were here, I have no idea!"

"What? How can you _not _know?" Cassie asked.

"I don't know! We've been here for hours now and... well, I don't know. Sometimes it seems like yes, sometimes no. I mean, something's different but..."

"What does Teal'c say?"

"To mind my own business and that he wouldn't tell me even if he did know."

"Then that means he definitely knows. Come on, you have to find out... I thought our plan was a total failure and that I was going to have my Parent Trapping licence revoked... I'm weaseling out on a technicality though, okay? Since _our _party got interrupted and all, if they're together by the end of this one... what are you guys doing?"

"Right now we're fishing. And drinking. I told you."

"Good, so that gives you lots of time before the end of the night."

"To do what?"

"To do whatever I would do."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Daniel hedged.

"Why not?"

"Because. Neither Jack nor Sam would hit, kick, scratch, pummel, bite, or damage you in any other way. _Me_, on the other hand..."

"Oh, Daniel, just have another beer and they'll think you're completely wasted and forgive you for going into bratty brother mode. _Come on, _I need to be kept in the loop here."

"Okay, okay. But all this arguing could be for nothing anyway, you know... I mean like I said I'm not even sure if..."

"Put Jack on the phone," Cassie said quickly.

"Wh... what are you going to do?" Daniel asked.

"Just get him, okay? I'll find out what's going on."

"How?"

"Daniel! I have stuff of my own to do here you know."

"Okay, okay..." Daniel took the phone back outside. Jack was getting himself another beer from the ice chest. "Jack, Cassie wants to talk to you."

"Cool." Jack took the phone and sat down on the closed lid of the chest. "Hey, Cass. Thanks for taking care of all the party leftover stuff... you didn't have to clean everything up like you did."

"Aileen helped, it was no big deal," Cassie said dismissively. "So... how's the cabin?"

"Good."

"How's the fishing?"

"Good."

"How's the mushy love stuff?"

"G... Cassie!" Jack quickly glanced at everyone else. They looked interested in his conversation but clearly hadn't heard what she was saying. "Was that all you wanted to know?"

"Yup. Can I talk to Sam now?"

"No," Jack said bluntly.

"Jaaaaaack... come on. I'll just keep calling until Daniel gives her the phone."

"All right, fine," Jack grumbled, handing the phone over to Sam and lowering himself back into his chair with a scowl.

She took it, frowning questioningly at his grumpy tone as she put the phone to her ear. "Cassie? What's up?"

"Not a lot here, just wanted to see how you're all doing up there," Cassie said casually.

"All right... it's too bad you couldn't come with Teal'c and Daniel."

"Some other time, when I don't have exams. So, catch anything yet?"

"There aren't any fish in the lake."

"LIAR!" Jack challenged loudly.

"Well, okay, there's at least _one_," Sam conceded.

Cassie laughed and said, "Okay, well, have fun. Tell Teal'c I said hi. Oh and tell Daniel that I didn't finish the paper I was working on last night, but I'm definitely going to finish it tonight. He's um, going to help me with it later."

"Do you want to talk to him again?"

"No, no, I'm busy and so are you. Happy birthday again, Sam. Something tells me it's going to be a good one."

Sam rolled her eyes at the suggestively innocent tone of Cassie's last sentence and said, "Goodbye, Cassie."

Cassie hung up laughing. Sam tossed Daniel's phone back to him and relayed all of her messages, watching Daniel's reaction closely in the process. He looked mildly stunned for a few moments, then jumped to his feet and said, "I'm gonna go get the potato chips!" He was running back up to the cabin before anybody else could say anything.

"Is he drunk already?" Jack muttered to Sam.

She laughed and said, "No way, not even Daniel..."

"Maybe his molecules are extra-sensitive to alcohol from being all glowy and jellyfish-like again... or something," Jack suggested.

"Was that a hypothesis?" Sam asked, pretending to be shocked.

"No." He crossed his arms as he sunk into his chair even more. The slightly hammish posture meant he had to set his fishing pole aside, but honestly, he wasn't likely to get a bite anyway.

The four of them fished until dark, talking casually. When they brought all of their things in and Jack started talking about cooking dinner, Sam offered to take Maggie for a walk. Jack made a comment about Sam having learnt her lesson about leashes that made both of them laugh and made Daniel say, "Huh?"

Sam left with Maggie and a flashlight ('just in case - don't get lost.') As soon as she was gone, Daniel started interrogating Jack. "What was that about?" he asked casually, hoping to ease into the questioning.

"Oh... she took Mags out without a leash this morning and she jumped in the lake."

"Maggie, I'm guessing, not Sam."

"Guess those rumors about how smart you are aren't entirely unfounded."

"Very nice, Jack."

"Thank you, Daniel."

Jack and Teal'c started preparing dinner from the groceries Jack had picked up that morning, Jack claiming that since this was technically the end of their birthday party Daniel shouldn't have to help. Daniel thanked him nicely but refused to take the hint that he leave them alone to it, instead perching on a counter and watching Jack carefully for anything in his eyes or body language that might give something away.

"Did you miss me that much, Daniel?" Jack finally snapped. "Forcryinoutloud, stop staring at me!"

Daniel mumbled an apology but it was Teal'c who responded. "Daniel Jackson is merely trying to determine what exactly has transpired between yourself and Colonel Carter."

"That is none of your business, Danny boy. Yours either," he added to Teal'c, knowing that while his larger buddy was unlikely to say anything, he was really just as curious as Daniel was.

"That is precisely what I told him, O'Neill. He disagrees."

"_He _is right here, you know!" Daniel said, waving his hands for emphasis. "And I'm sorry, but I happen to think it _is _my business. And yours, Teal'c, and Cassie's too. Come on, we just want to know if what we've been waiting for forever has actually happened yet or not."

"What exactly have you been waiting for, Daniel?" Jack asked, somewhat amused.

"You know what I'm talking about, Jack. I mean, are you guys... together now, or what?"

Jack shrugged and gave him a deliberately non-committal look. "I suppose that depends on what you're implying when you say 'together.' We traveled here together, yes. We have been in each other's company since we departed, yes."

"Jack!" Daniel wished Jack had let him cut up vegetables. At least then he would have had an assortment of projectiles to throw at the infuriating man to choose from: carrots, tomatoes, onions, peppers, potatoes... knives.

"Daniel."

"Jack! Come on, we just want to know because we care about you is all, and we want you guys to be happy but aren't there still... rules and stuff?"

"Yeah, sure there are still rules," Jack said, taking out the tray of steaks he was going to cook outside. The grill here was smaller than his one at home, but it would do. "Personally, I've always been a really firm believer in the one about waiting half an hour after eating before swimming."

Sam and Maggie came up onto the porch just as the three men came out onto it. "What's going on?" Sam asked, noting the slightly painted-into-a-corner look on Jack's face and the fact that Daniel was following him around in his annoying-little-brother mood. Teal'c looked mildly amused and mildly irked at the both of them.

"Daniel was just asking me about rules," Jack informed her.

Sam looked at Daniel suspiciously, quickly figuring out the sort of rules Jack was talking about. Deciding to have a little fun with Daniel, she said, "OH! _Those _rules. Did you explain them to him, Jack?"

Jack grinned at the extra emphasis on his name, recognizing that she was going to tease Daniel a bit. "Nope. Would you like to do the honors, Sam?"

"Sure. See, Daniel. The President put me on a leave of absence, which is different from regular down time."

"Different how?" Daniel asked.

"Think of it like a temporary retirement. I'm not responsible to the Air Force for anything I do for the next... what, six days?"

"Sounds about right," Jack agreed.

"So... wait, does that mean the President is okay with..."

"It means what it means, Daniel, that's all," Sam said simply, leaning over and patting him on the cheek with a sweet smile.

"Next time I get ascended, I'm seriously haunting you both," Daniel grumbled.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

A/N: I have no idea whether the 'leave of absence' bit would really fly with the USAF or not - I just made it up.


	8. Stalling

A/N: Sorry for the delay... I'm not cut out for this 'post as soon as you've got the chapter done' style. Special thanks to Lynnmichelle for her kind words of encouragement, and to my sister who proved that she is capable of giving me a swift kick in the pants even when we're on different continents.

This was supposed to be the last chapter, but it's growing so large that I've broken it up into two parts. The final part should be out within the next few days.

Yes, I know I'm evil. I'm rather proud of it actually.

Ch 8: Stalling

Before the teasing of Daniel could lead Jack and Sam into uncomfortable territory between themselves, they both backed off, knowing that it would just confuse Daniel even more if SG1 suddenly had their old team dynamic back during dinner.

They mostly succeeded, although Sam did catch herself staring off thoughtfully into space at one point, and Jack jumped in his chair and banged his knees loudly on the underside of the table when Daniel innocently commented that this group fishing trip could become a new tradition, since all their other traditions were so nice.

Messing with Daniel was one thing, and it was certainly helping all four of them relax, but the longer the meal went on, the more Sam was starting to think of their situation in terms of the proverbial giant elephant in the room that nobody was going to bother mentioning.

It occurred to her, as she passed Teal'c another baked potato, that this time, when she and Jack continued their own private 'tradition' (which was sort of cheating already, as they'd already kissed once this year,) there wasn't going to be anything to stop them, to restrict them to just one kiss. She knew this already, of course, but had managed to push it to the back of her mind all day.

As it occurred to her again, she couldn't help but wonder... true, every year they kissed. But for the first several years, each year had been more and more intense. But for the last three, their kisses had been almost-but-not-quite platonic. There were always very good reasons for that, but she couldn't help but wonder now if it might actually be too late for them to have some sort of physical relationship. Maybe they had just waited too long, pretending to be friends so hard that whatever chemistry had been there early on had been completely squashed and was now no longer even there. Slowly starved to death, like the plant in her bedroom that Cassie always forgot to water. That was certainly an incredibly depressing thought.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Jack looked over at Sam and frowned. She was staring at her plate like it was telling her that her cat had been hit by a car or something.

"I'm going to go get the coffee started," he stated, getting to his feet. Teal'c was still eating, but Teal'c was always still eating. He wouldn't be offended. "Carter? Want to help?"

She looked up at him quickly when he said her name, looked puzzled for a moment, and said, "Um, sure."

They went into the kitchen and she immediately busied herself with making the coffee, leaving Jack with little to do but pile their plates in the sink. Her coffee tasted a lot better anyway.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly, settling his hands on her shoulders lightly. She was still fiddling with the coffee maker, so her back was to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered promptly, nodding much too enthusiastically for the situation. There wasn't anything left to do to the machine, so she reached up into the cupboard above it and started pulling down coffee mugs for all of them.

"Thinking about your dad?" Jack guessed, trying to sound gentle.

"No," Sam said honestly. "I was... thinking about something else."

"Something sad."

"Yeah."

He squeezed her shoulders, not really knowing what to do. He had been almost positive she was thinking about her dad.

Sam sighed. She really hadn't been thinking about her dad at all, but now that Jack had mentioned him it was kind of hard not to. She took a deep breath and turned around, looking him squarely in the eye. "I'm fine now. It's nothing."

He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously and made quite a show of scrutinizing her face to see if she was lying or not. She tried to keep the same blank, not-hiding-anything look on her face but couldn't. Her eyes shifted to the left and she let out an involuntary laugh that was quickly stifled. It was something that always threatened to happen if they looked at each other seriously for too long.

"That's better. Sure you're okay?"

"Yes. I'm fine. Really."

He leaned back heavily on his heels and crossed his arms. She groaned internally. He wasn't buying it. "Nice try. You almost had me there. You shouldn't have added that last 'really.'"

"What, are you grinding the coffee beans up by hand one at a time or something, Jack?" Daniel yelled from the other room.

Jack went over to the doorway and stuck his head through, yelling back, "Yeah, it's something my therapist recommended when I feel tempted to hit the nearest archaeologist!" Maggie wriggled past his legs into the kitchen, which gave him an idea. "We're taking Maggie for a quick walk, so you can get your own coffee, Spacemonkey!"

He grabbed Maggie's leash off of the doorknob and clipped it on, turning to Sam expectantly. "Coming?"

Figuring she would probably be much safer staying inside, Sam nodded anyway and followed him out the door. They walked Maggie for a few minutes, along the edge of the lake, neither of them speaking very much. It was fairly dark, but they could see where they were going using the lights from inside the cabin and on the patio, as well as all the starlight and moonlight. The lake doubled the effect of the star and moonlight as it bounced off the smooth surface of the water. Sam smiled to herself as they walked – it truly was beautiful up here.

"Clear day tomorrow," Jack finally offered.

"Yeah," Sam agreed.

"Do you want to quit messing with Daniel?"

"What?" Sam stopped walking and stared at the back of his head.

He turned back to her when he realized she had stopped. "I mean, is that what's making you... uncomfortable or whatever?"

"No... that's funny. And it's the only way to get him to stop messing with us."

"I think so too I just... I mean before they got here it seemed like... things were more um... comfortable. So I thought maybe..."

"No, it's not that. I just... I don't know. I'm probably just thinking too hard about... everything."

"You? Never!" Jack said sarcastically.

Sam rolled her eyes but had to laugh at herself a little bit. After a moment, Jack held out his hand for hers to get her walking again, finally deciding that whatever had been bothering her, she really didn't want to talk about it. "Come on, let's head back to the cabin. You can mess with Danny some more, that'll cheer you up."

She took his hand and gasped almost inaudibly as a tingle and shiver shot up her arm. The scientific part of her brain, which she listened to most of the time, started to point out that it was most likely a normal reaction to the fact that her hand was quite cold and his was quite warm, but she quickly squelched that idea and instead decided it was the response to her earlier question about all the tension being gone between them. And luckily the response was an emphatic 'hell no!'

"Um... you okay?" Jack asked, sounding mildly amused but also mildly concerned at her erratic behavior.

Sam realized she was still standing still, staring at their hands with her mouth slightly open. "Yeah," she said slowly, wondering if she sounded as spacey to him as she did to herself.

"You sure? Your hand is freezing. Come on." He gave her hand a little tug, smiling in the almost-dark as Maggie did the same thing to him, with his other hand that was still holding onto her leash.

"Do you have a favorite?"

"Huh?"

Sam took a deep breath. She had sort of blurted it out as an incomplete thought, but now she had no choice but to finish what she had started. Plus, she really needed to know all of a sudden. "A favorite party that you've given us. Or year, or whatever," she clarified quickly.

"Oh. Um. Well." Realizing this was actually going to be a conversation, he slipped his wrist through the end of Maggie's leash and turned back to Sam, stepping closer so he could see her better. "I should probably be asking _you _that, since it's your party we're talking about. But I guess in all fairness you did ask me first, huh?"

She nodded, and was looking at him very carefully. He knew this was important, but he really had no idea why. Stalling for time, not wanting to say something wrong, he started rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb, trying to warm her ice-cold hand up a bit. He found her other hand and did the same, hoping it didn't remind her of the two of them sitting in the observation room looking down at her father just before he died, the way it did him. At the time, he remembered having the feeling that Sam wasn't really aware of what she was doing, but if she had been he didn't want to make her think about all of that right now.

"Favorite party." She nodded again, silently encouraging him to keep talking. "Well... geez Carter that's like trying to make me pick my favorite episode of 'The Simpsons.'"

"What?"

"They're all so different. I mean, the first year is an obvious choice because it started... so many things. You know what I mean?"

"The surprise?" she supplied.

He smiled a little bit. So she _wasn't _really talking about the parties after all. He hadn't been completely sure, but he had been hoping. True, talking about their 'tradition' had always been a big no-no, and he wasn't going to pretend he was completely comfortable with it all of a sudden, but he figured it had to be done. Might as well give it the old college try.

"Yeah. Exactly. I don't remember ever being so pleasantly surprised in my life. But then the next year was great too because I kind of knew what was coming, so I don't know that it's really fair to claim that one of those was my _favorite. _And last year... well, last year was so great because everybody was so together, and had so much fun, even with all the other stuff going on in all our lives at the time."

"It was really important after... after Janet died, to me. That we'd all had that fun vacation together. And I know Daniel and Cassie feel the same way..." Jack nodded, but he really didn't want to talk about that. Sam knew that, of course. When it came to loss, he was okay at the listening bit when he forced himself to be, but he still wasn't about to talk about his own feelings on the matter. Speaking of which... "Same with the year before," Sam continued. "I can't say it's my favorite because in a lot of ways it was my worst birthday ever, spending it without Daniel after getting used to sharing it with him... but it was also one of my best birthdays in other ways."

"Which part, where you drank more than you probably had since your twenty-first birthday? Or when your dad beat the crap out of me the next day?"

Sam laughed and shook her head. "No. I wasn't thinking about that."

Jack was very tempted to ask if she was thinking about the part where they'd slept together, but he thought that might be taking it a little too far, so he just said, "Yeah. There were good things about that year too. Same with O'Malley's. You were both so pissed off at me before that party that it might have to win simply because it fixed everything that was wrong between all of us."

"Yeah."

"But the next two years, I think, were even better so I don't know."

"They were better?" She tried not to sound too pleased with the way their conversation was going, but so far it was exactly what she needed to hear.

"Well... yeah," he said simply. "I mean, with the slumber party it was... I don't know, I just remember it felt like the first time we were... maybe on the same page with thinking that... I mean after the zay'tarc thing and all... it was the first time we _tried _to talk about the... you know, feelings and stuff... between us. We didn't really do a good job at the talking part... um kind of like now, I guess. But we at least started to. I think. I just remember thinking it was... a step. Forward. As much as we could, I guess. Under the circumstances."

Sam nodded. He was right. And the circumstances were different now, but she still didn't really know what to say. Or do. She decided to just go with what she wanted to do more than anything else at the moment, which was close the small remaining gap of space between them, partly because she was cold but mostly not. He let go of her hands when she stepped closer to him and wrapped both arms around her after she had done the same to him.

"Jesus, you're freezing!" Jack exclaimed, pulling her closer to his own warmth with one arm and rubbing her back in big circles with the other to try and warm her up.

"I'm okay."

"You're shaking."

"I know. Jack?"

"What?"

"What about the last year?"

"The last... oh. That one... if I absolutely had to pick _one _favorite, it would have to be that one."

"Really?" She actually was surprised at that. The only year left that he hadn't mentioned had been the most crowded, with nearly everyone from the SGC present for most of the night. His dog, who had been a puppy at the time, had also made herself sick getting into the food. And he had been made to sing karaoke in front of the entire SGC. But it had also ended in the most intensely passionate kiss they'd ever shared.

For that matter, she couldn't really imagine a better kiss than that. Ending it had really been one of the hardest things she'd ever done. She smiled into his shoulder as she thought about it, and suddenly felt incredibly stupid for being so worried a little while ago that the attraction between them had died out.

"Yeah."

What in the world was he agreeing with? she wondered before remembering that they had, in fact, actually been in the middle of a conversation before her mind had wandered, albeit most pleasantly wandered.

"That whole party was just such a long... I don't even know what it was. The whole night was just so good it sometimes doesn't seem real when I think about it. Especially... when I thought about it this past year."

_When you were with Pete. _

He didn't say it, because it would have seemed like he was looking for an apology or sympathy, and she knew he didn't want either of those, especially now when it would completely destroy the moment, but she had heard the silent omission as loudly as if he had screamed it in her face, and she couldn't help but once again feel guilty about what she'd done to both Jack and Pete over the past year.

"Sam? Remember what I said before? About not dwelling?"

"Yeah." She lifted her head and leaned back slightly so she could look at him properly. "You're right, Jack."

"I _love _it when you say that!" he said enthusiastically.

"Which part? 'You're right,' or 'Jack?'" she asked lightly.

He chuckled and said, "Both, actually. Although I'm not delusional or anything, I don't expect to get used to the 'you're right' bit, but the other I could get used to hearing pretty..."

"Jack? I think we've done enough talking for now," Sam interrupted, unable to stand it any more. Bringing up the memories of previous years, combined with the charged air around them and the lack of space between them was just too much. She kissed him, fully aware that she was breaking their earlier agreement about waiting until after the cake tonight, and also really, really not caring.

Despite the nature of their conversation and the closeness of their embrace, she still took him by surprise. He was still expecting them to stick to the original plan, and when she changed it, it took him a few seconds to recover before his brain finally recognized that yes, as a matter of fact, those _were _Carter's lips pressing rather firmly against his, and they were surprisingly warm compared to how cold the rest of her had been.

He was about to convince his still-stunned lips that it was more than okay to go ahead and start kissing her back any time they wanted when he was violently jerked to the right, the motion a bit like coming out of hyperspace... only coming out of hyperspace didn't usually end with a big splash into ice-cold water, Sam screeching, and a dog barking happily.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Daniel and Teal'c looked at each other in alarm as they heard loud splashes, followed almost immediately by Sam screaming, Jack yelling at Maggie, and Maggie barking. They hurried outside to see what was going on, Teal'c having the presence of mind to grab a lantern. They arrived at the edge of the lake in time to see Jack and Sam scrambling out of the water, slipping on the sloping edge as they struggled for footing in the dark. Maggie was still splashing around, unseen, in the water.

"Teal'c, give us a hand, would you?" Jack called loudly, standing up to his waist in water, knee deep in mud and gook. "We're freezing out collective asses off here!"

Teal'c quickly passed the lantern to Daniel and reached for Sam's arms. Daniel started to do the same. Jack, who was trying to help Sam up onto the shore from behind, barked, "Daniel! Don't even think about it, you'll just end up down in here with us."

"Jack, I can help!" Daniel started to object. He slipped and crashed into Teal'c's back as he spoke. Luckily, Teal'c had his feet firmly planted so he could help Sam and Jack. He steadied Daniel with one arm while he pulled Sam up with the other.

"Let's get Maggie, D-Daniel," Sam said around her chattering teeth, leading Daniel up onto more solid ground.

Teal'c helped fish (haha) Jack out of the water as Sam called, "Maggie, treats!"

It worked; Maggie immediately scrambled to the shore and ran straight up to the cabin. Teal'c grabbed the dog's wet leash on the patio, and Jack and Sam started peeling off as much of their muddy and wet clothes as they dared outside.

"I've n-n-n-never b-b-been this c-c-c-cold," Sam shivered. Jack glanced at her. She looked like a frozen, drowned something-or-other, although it seemed wrong to compare her to the proverbial drowned rat, even in his own head. He was still fumbling with the laces on his boots but she'd already managed to get off her shoes somehow, and was working on her soaking jeans, with Daniel's help.

Jack never would have imagined a context in which he'd be glad to see Daniel helping Sam out of her pants, but apparently now he'd found one. "How'd you get your shoes off so fast?" he asked. "And aren't you forgetting Antarctica?"

"J-j-just slipped them off," she answered, nodding at the trainers, still laced, that were on their sides near her feet. "And n-n-n-no."

"Colonel Carter, you should go get in the shower to warm yourself. We will take care of Magnet," Teal'c said firmly, opening the door for her.

"D-Daniel, go get some towels from the bathroom first," Jack ordered, finally getting his boots off.

Daniel hurried after Sam, and Jack quickly started ridding himself of the rest of his wet clothes, muttering to himself about his damn dog and cold showers. Teal'c wisely said nothing.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Thirty minutes later, everyone was clean and relatively dry and warm, all sitting around in the living room, the unexpected excitement over. Sam had taken a quick hot shower to get clean and warm, being careful to leave Jack plenty of hot water for himself. While he had showered, Sam and Daniel had apparently undertaken the task of drying of Maggie with some towels and Sam's hair dryer. His dog was now very fluffy and happily snoozing in front of the roaring fire Teal'c had built while Jack showered and the science twins dried off the cause of all the trouble.

Now, Sam was curled up under a mountain of clothes and a thick blanket in the chair closest to the fire, her damp hair starting to curl slightly, one hand clutching a mug of coffee, the other hidden among the blanket along with the rest of her.

Jack was similarly ensconced in his own blanket, although he was not curled up in it like a child, despite the way Teal'c and Daniel had been 'mothering' the both of them. Jack, tucked into one corner of his couch with his own mug, had a thinner blanket covering his legs, his sock-clad feet propped up on the coffee table.

Daniel and Teal'c had both changed into warmer clothes as well, as they'd gotten a bit damp in the rescue also. Now they were all sitting quietly. Predictably, Daniel was the one who broke the silence. "I don't get how _all _of you ended up in the lake at once."

Jack and Sam looked at each other quickly, and Jack would have bet anything it wasn't the fire she was sitting so close to that was turning her cheeks so pink. He had to be a little bit smug about that; it was only right. "You know how much Maggie likes to swim, Daniel," he finally answered mildly, tearing his gaze away from Sam to give Daniel a practiced 'I'm-not-hiding-anything' look that he knew for a fact actually broadcasted the exact opposite.

"Yeah, but how could she drag even one of you into the water, let alone both..."

"She tangled us up in the leash and we tripped, Daniel," Sam answered.

"Oh," he said, nodding. "But why..."

"Daniel, could you go make another pot of coffee?" she asked sweetly. "I'm still a little cold, I don't want to get up from here just yet."

"Oh, yeah. Of course. Good idea." He not only got up quickly, but he also took her coffee mug with him as he hurried into the kitchen.

Jack watched him go, impressed. He had been mildly concerned that Sam's close relationship with Daniel would be a problem when she took over command of SG1. Daniel was the hardest person Jack had ever had to command, and he could be very manipulative when he wanted something, especially in the field. Clearly those concerns had been unwarranted; it was obviously actually the other way around. "Niiice," he said quietly to her once Daniel had gone.

Sam gave him a blank look and said, "I have no idea what you're talking about, General O'Neill." Then she actually winked at him, right there in front of Teal'c and everything. Apparently they were going to take their game up a level. Or twelve. Interesting. Very interesting.

"O'Neill, perhaps in the future you should not walk Magnet so close to the water's edge," Teal'c commented.

"Great advice there, T, thanks."

Teal'c narrowed his eyes slightly and added, "Particularly if you are not going to be paying attention to either."

Jack swallowed a lot of coffee at once and coughed slightly, then stared moodily into the dregs at the bottom of his mug, fishing out a few grounds, before risking a glance at Teal'c, who looked rather pleased with himself, and then at Sam, whose cheeks were glowing pink again. He wondered if she was staying so close to the fire as an excuse.

"O'Neill, when are we going to consume the cake you required me to bring?"

Sam looked at Jack quickly. "You said..."

"We never really made a bet on it," he pointed out quickly.

"Oh. Right. So... there's cake then?" she asked brightly.

He nodded. "Oh yeah." Then, deciding to be truly evil, he said innocently, "But I don't know why you two are so impatient to dig into it. I thought we could bust out some of my old board games first."

Sam looked at him incredulously.

"I have never known you to pass up cake before, O'Neill," Teal'c commented as Daniel brought Sam her fresh coffee.

Jack held his mug out hopefully to Daniel, who just gave him an 'are you nuts' look and sat back down at the other end of the sofa.

"I'm not passing it up, T, not at all. I would never dream of doing something so stupid. I'm just postponing it until later. After all, we're all here to have fun and relax, right? Spend some nice, quality time together, bonding and whatnot? And what's more fun and relaxing than a nice, friendly game of Monopoly?"


	9. Ending

A/N: Last chapter of this series, although it's possible I'll do a future story way down the road somewhere, but probably not anytime in the near future. I've been absolutely overwhelmed by your responses to this series. Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing. This series has many younger viewers, which I'm using as my excuse for not putting in any steamy bedroom scenes... although the truth is I just can't write the silly things without laughing hysterically. It's a talent I do not possess, although I do think this is my mushiest, shippiest chapter I've ever written in any story. Anyway, enjoy!

Ch 9: Ending

Sam couldn't believe it. He actually wanted to play Monopoly! He was rummaging around in a closet for it now, and Teal'c and Daniel were arguing over who got to be banker and who got to be real estate broker.

"Daniel Jackson, when last we played this game, you and O'Neill nearly came to blows over your error in banking. I will be banker."

"It wasn't _my _error, Teal'c, Jack was trying to cheat!"

"Children," Sam interrupted, fully aware that one of the 'children' she was addressing was actually well over a hundred years old.

At the moment, she really didn't care. After Maggie's interruption, she would have expected Jack to be rushing through the rest of their 'party.' Apparently now he wanted to not only mess with Daniel, but with her as well.

She had to admit (to herself – she'd never admit it to him or anyone else out loud) that she was enjoying the new, or rather rediscovered, atmosphere around them now. For so long things had been out of balance, or something. They had been teetering back and forth between too comfortable and too uncomfortable for a long time, but now it felt like things were back to normal, or what passed for normal between them at any rate.

So, if Jack suddenly wanted to prolong the rest of tonight as long as possible, she was more than willing to try to beat him at his own game. At this point, she figured it didn't really matter who won anyway. Well, as long as it wasn't Daniel, who was still whining about being banker.

"Teal'c," Sam said with a sigh. "Let's just let Daniel be the banker since it _is _his birthday."

"Very well," Teal'c agreed as Jack came back into the room with the worn box.

"I think we might be missing a few pieces. I hope nobody wanted to be the thimble," he said as he set the box down on the coffee table and turned to Sam, who was still sitting in the chair halfway across the room.

"You going to phone in your turns from over there?" he asked.

"Maybe, if you had let me bring my phone." She got out of the comfortable chair somewhat reluctantly and brought her blanket with her as she joined everyone else. Teal'c set up the board while Daniel divided up the money and Jack started sorting out the property cards.

"I'm the race car," Sam said quickly as she settled herself on the floor between the coffee table and the sofa, so that she could lean against the back of the sofa comfortably. Daniel and Teal'c had taken throw pillows and were sitting on other sides of the board and table, Daniel directly across from her. Jack was behind her, on the couch. It would probably kill his knees to sit on the floor.

"Why do you get to be the race car?" he demanded. "It's my game."

"My birthday," she countered easily.

"I wish to be the top hat," Teal'c said quickly.

Sam thought about pointing out that nobody was likely to fight Teal'c over the top hat, which for some reason she had always considered to be a forlorn little piece, but then decided not to. It was oddly appropriate for him; the man did have an interest in strange hats, after all, as he often had to wear them to cover up his Apophis mark.

"And Daniel's the puppy," Sam said matter-of-factly, setting the little dog piece and the race car on 'Go.'

"Daniel, you dog," Jack said.

Daniel blinked at both of them. "Why am I the dog?"

"You're not the dog, you're the _puppy,_" Sam tried to explain. Clearly neither man understood what she was saying. They both looked at her, then at each other, and finally shrugged.

"There's nothing good left for me to be!" Jack objected, rifling through the remaining pieces.

"Why don't you be the boat?" Daniel asked.

"Lost the boat years ago," Jack muttered.

"You could be the iron," Sam suggested 'helpfully.'

He narrowed his eyes at her and said, "You wait." He got up and disappeared into his bedroom.

Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c looked at each other and shrugged. Teal'c went into the kitchen and came back with a ginger ale and a big bag of pickle flavored chips. Daniel passed everyone their money. Jack returned and, with unnecessary pride and force, plopped a little plastic figure down next to the top hat: Bart Simpson on a skateboard.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Jack felt stupid. Monopoly had seemed like such a good idea at the time... apparently the years had blurred his memory of the game, as he didn't remember it being quite so... boring. He felt his plan had backfired somewhat. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying the game.

Daniel was getting a little drunk, as they had all switched back to beer when the game began _over an hour ago_. Sam was making race car noises every time she moved her piece, which led Daniel to make little dog noises when he moved his.

Daniel's dog noises made Jack's real dog lift her head up and look at them all derisively. Yes, Jack was positive that was the exact term for the expression on Maggie's face.

At least there weren't any top hat noises for Teal'c to make.

Jack was just bored out of his mind. He wanted to be eating cake, and he wanted to be kissing Carter. He didn't really care in which order at this point. He was about a minute and a half from some serious sulking.

"Jack, it's your turn." He took the dice Sam was holding out to him and frowned down at the top of her head. She was sitting on the floor next to him, the left side of her body just lightly brushing against his leg. It was absolutely nothing, but it was really pissing him off. If she would get a little closer or a little farther away from him he would be a lot better off, but she hadn't moved an inch in either direction since the game began and it was maddening. And deliberate too. He didn't have to be able to see her face to know that.

He leaned over the coffee table and rolled the dice so that they intentionally crashed into Daniel's neat little row of houses. "Jack!" Daniel objected.

Jack gave him an innocent, "Oops."

"Do you have to do that _every _time?" Daniel whined as he straightened out his houses

_Yes, as a matter of fact I do, _Jack thought. That was the only fun part to this game... although maybe he could make it a little more fun with a little more effort...

He skated Bart across the proper number of spaces, crashing through Teal'c's hotels and knocking Sam's car completely off the board and onto the floor before screeching to a halt on one of her railroads.

"Very mature," Sam muttered as she retrieved her car from under the table and Teal'c fixed his hotels without comment, but with a look that warned Jack he'd better not try anything like that again, or he was liable to wake up and find Bart had been mysteriously decapitated during the night.

"Well, looks like you owe me $200. Again," Sam informed him.

"I'll get you another beer and we'll call it even," he offered.

"Hmm... okay, add the pretzels and it's a deal."

"Pleasure doing business with you," Jack said quickly, going to the kitchen grinning as he heard Daniel start to complain.

"That's cheating, Jack, you can't do that!"

"House rules, Daniel! Look it up!"

When Jack returned with the pretzels and two fresh beers, Daniel was reading the rules with a frown.

"Daniel, I'm sorry, but he's right. You can personalize the rules."

"You have to _agree _to the rules though, it says it right here!"

"I did agree," Sam pointed out.

"But..."

"Do the rules not also state that a transaction is over when the next person takes his or her turn?" Teal'c interrupted.

"Yup," Jack said.

"Good." Teal'c picked up the dice and rolled.

Daniel muttered, "Traitor."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

After that, Jack found the game much more enjoyable. It was quite interesting trying to wheedle his way out of paying for stuff, and seeing what he could get everyone else to offer him. The game quickly degenerated until they were eventually playing more by a 'rules, we don't need no stinkin' rules' philosophy than anything else.

The highlight of the game, in Jack's opinion at least, was when Daniel was seized by an ill-timed and painful foot cramp and handed over Boardwalk and Park Place in desperation when Sam demanded them in exchange for a quick foot rub and a banana. When she came back into the living room with the banana, she looked confused.

"Jack... why is there a pineapple in your refrigerator?"

"Um... so the bananas won't be lonely?" he replied with a shrug.

Daniel started giggling, and promptly rolled over flat on his back on the floor, still laughing and grabbing his side. "Ah! My appendix!"

"Daniel, you had your appendix out years ago," Jack reminded him calmly.

"Oh... yeah. Good point."

"And it was on the other side of your body to begin with anyway," Sam added, tossing the banana to him as Teal'c pulled Daniel back up into a sitting position.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Jack and Sam were in intense negotiations. Jack was holding onto the dice so that nobody could go until they finished. "Okay..." Sam tried. "I'll give you the utilities and the railroads, and you give me the purples and the last Oreo."

"I want your orange."

"You don't have any oranges!"

"I know, I want to trade it to Teal'c."

"I'll give you my 'Get out of jail free' card."

"Please... don't waste my time," he scoffed at the petty offering as he broke the cookie he was holding hostage in half and started inching it towards his mouth. "You want the cookie you're going to have to offer more than a get out of jail free card," he said unnecessarily.

"I can't give you the orange... but I'll give you the utilities, railroads, and a free stay on the next thing you land on."

"The next _hotel _I land on?"

"What? That's absurd!"

Jack stuck half the cookie into his mouth and started chewing it loudly. The look on Sam's face was priceless. You'd think he just ripped the head off a baby deer or something. "Maybe I'll trade the last half to Teal'c for Pennsylvania, since you won't give me your orange so I can trade with him."

"You wouldn't," she challenged hesitantly. "And now it's just _half _a cookie anyway."

"Ah, but it's half of the _last _cookie, which makes it a valuable commodity. Besides, you're welcome to come after the other half if you want." He waggled his eyebrows and, in a very juvenile fashion, stuck out his partially-chewed cookie-covered tongue.

Daniel made a barfing sound so realistic that Sam actually had to glance over at him to make sure he was okay.

"Okay, give me the purples and the Oreo _in your hand _and I'll give you the orange," she offered.

"Really?"

"Just the orange, no railroads and utilities."

"Hmm... what about the free stay on a property?"

"Fine, the next one you land on."

"Okay, deal."

Both of them quickly moved to start gathering the items they'd bartered. Sam quickly popped the cookie into her mouth and promptly choked on it as Daniel said, "Why don't you guys get married?"

Eyes watering, Sam managed to turn her head to the side to avoid spraying the board with Oreo flecks as she coughed. "Jesus Daniel what the hell?" Jack demanded, whacking her on the back.

"I'm okay," she gasped, trying to get him to stop.

"Colonel Carter, drink this," Teal'c said, quickly pressing a bottle of water into her hand. She drank it quickly and glanced up at Jack, who was looking flushed and glaring at Daniel.

"Sorry, Sam I didn't mean to make you choke," Daniel apologized sincerely.

"Well what the hell were you trying to do?" Jack asked sharply.

"I just thought... it just occurred to me that if Sam can't be court-martialed this week, and you guys got married, after the fact it would be discrimination and against the law for the Air Force to fire one of you from the SGC just for being married. They'd have to figure out a way to work around the other rules or you could sue them."

"Daniel, you are the weirdest drunk I've ever met," Sam said, trying to change the subject. "The last thing you said before _that _was that the Monopoly guy looked like the love child of Mr. Peanut and Mrs. Paul the fish stick lady, and now you come up with _that?_"

"Well... I'm right though aren't I?" he persisted.

"I don't know, maybe," Sam said wearily. "But that's not the point."

"I'm not _that_ drunk," Daniel added as an afterthought.

"You're _that _annoying," Sam countered.

"Kids!" Jack interrupted. Sam was sitting up on her knees and looked about ready to hurt Daniel.

Sam looked at him sharply, surprised he wasn't just as irked as she was, and he quickly decided it would be much smarter to take her side and let Teal'c be the voice of reason. "Actually, you do have a point," he said quickly. "Daniel _is _annoying."

Sam smirked at Daniel, who turned to Teal'c for help. Teal'c was pretending to do kel-no-reem, although everybody knew he didn't even need to do it anymore.

"It was just a suggestion," Daniel muttered.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Daniel wasn't really all that drunk. Maybe a little, but mostly he was just tired from the long drive to the cabin and irritated that Jack and Sam were messing with him just as much as he was messing with them. He felt like he wasn't living up to his obligation to Cassie, somehow. Plus, he really liked pushing their buttons – for years they had been such easy targets. Now they were getting less shy around each other, which meant they were presenting a more united front against Daniel.

Daniel also wasn't so drunk that he was missing all the weird little glances and the even longer gazes flying back and forth between them all day and all night. He knew Teal'c was catching it all as well, but Teal'c was a lot better at pretending that he didn't really care one way or the other.

Jack, predictably, was the first to get fed up with Monopoly, although it had been his idea to play in the first place. He was running out of creative solutions to paying for things, and his cash supply was rapidly dwindling. Apparently Jack finally decided to just throw in the towel because when it was his turn he waved a couple of real estate cards in the air enticingly and said, "First person to kiss me gets all my winnings."

Daniel rolled his eyes. Nobody moved. "Aw, come on!" Jack exclaimed.

Daniel looked at Teal'c as if to say, 'you do it.' Teal'c scowled. Sam was really overdoing it a bit though, Daniel thought. Surely she didn't think any of the three men in the living room were buying her 'I have zero interest in kissing the General' act. The way those two had been looking at each other all night, it was all Daniel could do to keep from screaming, "GET A ROOM ALREADY!"

"I'm not rolling until somebody lets me off the hook here," Jack threatened, holding onto the dice tightly. "This game gets old, fast."

"Colonel Carter, I would be most grateful if you would acquiesce to O'Neill's odd request so that we may continue with the game."

Daniel made a mental note to limit Teal'c's access to 'Pirates of the Caribbean.'

Rolling her eyes dramatically and looking very put-upon, Sam sighed and said, "All right," and pecked him on the cheek with roughly the enthusiasm of a little kid at a family reunion full of cheek-pinching older relatives once and twice removed.

"Very well, Colonel, I bequeath all of my earthly Monopoly possessions to you," Jack said, handing her two crumpled handfuls of Monopoly money and properties.

"Gee, thanks," she said sarcastically as he stretched out along the couch on his back. Apparently staring at the ceiling with his hands folded behind his head was a more productive use of Jack's time than the game was.

Daniel sighed, figuring that it wouldn't take long for him to start bugging them all, trying to get them to quit the game as well.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Sam guessed Jack would only be able to be still and quiet on the couch for about three more minutes. To his credit, he actually made it about three minutes and forty seconds before he started skating his little Bart toy along the couch cushions experimentally. No doubt he had expected everyone to give up on the game when he did, but at this point it was a matter of principle. She wasn't about to let Daniel win Monopoly any more than she was going to let Jack win the other game they were still playing with Daniel.

And Teal'c... well, she probably should have guessed that Jaffa stubbornness translated to the world of Milton Bradley as well.

Behind her, on the couch, Jack yawned loudly, stretched, made a show of looking at his watch, and yawned again. Daniel and Teal'c completely ignored him but she couldn't help but glance back at him sympathetically.

Until, of course, he leaned over her and set Bart carefully on top of Teal'c's head. "Huh. The hair's good for something after all," he commented.

"O'Neill." Teal'c had, after eight years, found even one more way to say 'O'Neill.' This one clearly meant, 'get your stupid toy off my head this instant or die.'

"Sorry, T," Jack said quickly, removing the figurine.

"Would you like to borrow my book?" Sam asked sweetly.

"I'm not _that _bored. But ask me again in four hours when you guys are _still _playing this game, or better yet, don't even ask. Just take the book and knock me unconscious with it."

"Oh, please, can I?" Daniel asked promptly.

"Hey!" Jack objected.

"Actually, why wait four hours? Sam, where's your book?"

"Oh shut up Daniel," Jack muttered, getting up and going into the kitchen.

"He does know it was his idea to play this game, right?" Daniel asked Teal'c and Sam as soon as Jack was out of the room.

"Indeed," Teal'c responded.

Getting to her feet, Sam headed down the hallway towards the bathroom calling, "Oh yeah. He definitely knows."

Daniel rolled the dice and said to Teal'c, "Bet you five bucks when she comes back she sits next to him on the couch."

"Monopoly dollars or regular dollars?" Teal'c asked.

"Regular."

"I will pass. That would be a foolish wager on my behalf."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Sam came back into the living room and sat down on the couch next to Jack, thanking him for the drink he handed her and asking Daniel and Teal'c whose turn it was next.

"What?" she asked self-consciously as Teal'c and Daniel exchanged a look and Daniel worked very hard to keep from laughing.

"Nothing," Daniel said into the back of his hand.

Sam looked at Jack for an explanation, but he was clearly just as puzzled as she was. He shrugged and settled himself more comfortably into the couch.

"I believe it is your turn, Colonel Carter," Teal'c said.

She rolled the dice quickly. Truthfully, she was getting really tired of the game too, but she didn't want to give Daniel the satisfaction of winning. Or Jack for that matter, even though he'd already quit Monopoly. He'd wanted to drag the evening out, after all. He was just getting what he'd asked for.

She finished her turn and leaned back into the couch. And Jack's arm, which he had stretched over the back of the couch – his fingers collided clumsily with her shoulder. "Sorry, Sam, I wasn't expecting you to lean back so fast," he said lightly, moving his arm.

Riiiight. "No problem," she answered just as lightly.

He did it again the next time she had to lean forward to roll the dice. This time he didn't bother apologizing or moving his arm, instead curling his hand around her shoulder. She shot him a quick look with a raised eyebrow. He just shrugged and squeezed her shoulder, a challenging glint in his eye.

Well, okay, she thought to herself. This would certainly be more interesting than Monopoly. She wasn't entirely sure if he was trying to get her to quit the board game, give in and demand some space, or get Daniel to say something. Maybe it was all three. She supposed it didn't really matter. And she wasn't going to let him win whatever new little game he was starting up, anymore than she was going to let Daniel win Monopoly.

The board game gave her lots of legitimate reasons to move around, as anytime she needed to look at one of her property cards or take her turn she had to scoot to the edge of the cushions and lean forward. She shifted a little bit closer to him each time she slid back, until there wasn't any space left between them and she had to come up with something different. That was a bit harder, because they were both trying to be as 'accidental' as possible.

"Oh brother," Daniel muttered.

"Did you say something, Daniel?" Jack asked.

"Who me? Nope. Nothing," Daniel said quickly. He glanced over at the couch again and added wickedly, "They say hearing is the first thing to go, you know, Jack."

"I thought that was memory."

"Still," Daniel said vaguely.

"Maybe the people who say hearing is first forgot about the memory part," Sam suggested.

"Or maybe the people who say memory is first couldn't hear the ones talking about hearing," Daniel countered.

"Maybe you should shut up and finish your damn game," Jack interrupted.

"I concur with O'Neill," Teal'c added.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Sam was completely out of options to discreetly get Jack back for everything he was doing. He definitely had the advantage because he wasn't still playing Monopoly. And Teal'c and Daniel were used to him not being able to keep his hands still, so it was a little bit more natural for him to suddenly be fiddling with the sleeves of her sweater and whatnot. She was already sitting as close to him as possible without climbing in his lap (which probably would have made Daniel's eyes just pop right out of his head.)

The only thing left she could do was act like she was ignoring him, which she had been working hard at for the past ten minutes. Since he had got bored with his original game, Monopoly, and quit, but she was still sticking with it, she figured she could do the same thing now, and just wait until he got bored or gave up. Theoretically, it was a good idea. Practically was another matter entirely.

For the past several minutes, every time she leaned forward his hand slid a little bit further up her back and stayed there for a while, fingers lightly tracing the new area as if he wanted to be sure he could draw someone a map later, in case they asked. It was maddening, to say the least. Her attempt to make him be still by leaning back and squashing his fingers between the cushion and her back had just made him dig his fingers in more firmly, so she was out of options. Well, she supposed she could move, but that would just be stupid.

Daniel was fidgeting more than she was. He looked like he was trying to decide if he should leap across the table and slap Jack's hand away, or give them both high fives. Teal'c was pretending not to notice anything at all.

"Daniel, you're going to lose eventually. At this point it's almost a statistical fact. It's just a matter of time," Sam objected with a heavy sigh as Daniel started, once again, mortgaging properties to pay for landing on one of her yellows.

"_Almost _a statistical fact, Sam. What's your rush anyway, it's not like you've got something better to do," he said, giving her his 'I'm just a clueless but adorable archaeologist' look.

Teal'c almost smiled.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Jack had always had a thing for necks. Especially Carter's. With the short hair and all, he couldn't remember a time when he hadn't been particularly drawn to it, as strange as that might sound to Daniel or Teal'c. So by the time he had maneuvered his way up to the neckline of her sweater, he hesitated, running his thumb absently along the fabric at her collar with the sort of anticipatory pause most men probably reserved for more intimate thresholds like bra clasps and pantylines.

She leaned forward to take the multicolored money Teal'c was paying her, which made his hand slip back down along her spine. That broke him out of his suddenly thoughtful daze and when she leaned back again he curled his hand around her neck, his face deliberately blank when she turned to look at him. He refused to look back at her, even though it wasn't really playing fair – for the last several minutes that had been her only real counterattack.

She got goosebumps when he started letting his fingers play lightly with the soft skin on her neck, the little bump at the top of her spine, and the collar of her shirt, but she didn't move away or try to make him stop. He wasn't stupid – he fully expected her to get revenge for his little game sometime in the near future, but hopefully it would be as much fun as this was. Way better than Monopoly, at any rate.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Okay, will the birthday boy and girl please report to the kitchen for rations!" Jack called loudly. The Monopoly game had finally ended when Daniel was eliminated and Teal'c and Sam called it a draw. Sam and Daniel were putting the game away in the living room, while Jack and Teal'c had gone into the kitchen to get the cake ready.

"Today people!" Jack added.

Sam and Daniel looked at each other, rolled their eyes, and went into the kitchen, where Jack immediately slapped their birthday hats on their heads. Jack and Teal'c started singing 'Happy Birthday' to them as soon as they entered the room.

As they finished their song (at slightly different times due to Jack's tendency to drag out random notes whenever he saw fit), Sam and Daniel leaned over the cake and blew out the candles, which Teal'c had picked up at the last minute. It was the same flavor as always but not decorated. Jack started cutting large pieces of cake for everyone while Teal'c started pouring coffee.

Daniel resisted the urge to make barfing sounds as he watched the way Jack and Sam kept glancing at each other and smiling down at their respective plates of cake. Everyone was standing around the kitchen, tired of sitting after the long game of Monopoly. Sam was leaning back against the counter near the sink, Jack standing a foot and a half away. Maggie was between them, eyeing their plates hopefully. At least now there was a somewhat normal amount of space between the two of them and Jack was keeping his hands to himself.

"It is very late at night, O'Neill," Teal'c said unexpectedly after everyone had been eating their cake in silence for a few minutes.

"Um… yeah, it is, T," Jack agreed cautiously. Teal'c never talked just for the sake of talking.

"And you still intend to awake us at dawn for fishing?" Teal'c pressed.

Sam covered a laugh by sticking a big mouthful of cake in her mouth and tried to look sympathetic around all the cake.

Daniel cleared his throat and glanced at Jack, who could not have looked more offended if Teal'c had insulted his mother. "He ah… has a good point," Daniel contributed.

Jack mumbled something and helped himself to another piece of cake. Sam rubbed his arm sympathetically and said, "I'll go fishing with you, Jack." Daniel swallowed a mouthful of coffee down the wrong pipe, because something happened then that Daniel never thought possible: Jack O'Neill blushed.

Sam looked at him quickly. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Daniel croaked, making a mental note to call Cassie later, even though he would certainly wake her up, and update her on everything that had happened so far.

He smiled evilly as thinking about Cassie gave him another idea.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Sam turned to the sink and started rinsing the icing off of her plate. Jack crowded next to her and did the same, nudging her shoulder. She risked glancing at him and quickly turned her attention back to the dishes. With the smug half-smile on his face she could practically hear him chanting 'I'm gonna kiss you, I'm gonna kiss you."

She had almost forgotten Daniel and Teal'c were standing there with them until Daniel suddenly said, "Geez, why don't you guys just get it over with already?"

Dropped plates clattered noisily into the sink as Jack and Sam turned around to face him quickly. "What?" he asked, looking particularly peevish. "It's not like we don't all know about your little secret tradition."

If Sam was shocked at the sudden 'bring everything out into the open' attitude Daniel seemed to have adopted, it was nothing to how surprised she was when Jack shrugged and said, "Daniel, when you're right, you're right."

Sam babbled incoherently for a moment, which greatly amused Jack, who challenged, "Problem, Carter?"

"No," she said defiantly, crossing her arms stubbornly and shooting a quick glare at Daniel, who looked mildly alarmed that they had taken up his little challenge.

"All right then."

Sam barely had time to glance nervously at Teal'c and Daniel before Jack had demanded her undivided attention by cradling her face between both of his hands, thumbs caressing her cheeks gently.

"Uh, hi."

She laughed and replied, "Hi."

"Happy Birthday."

"Thanks." She must have looked a little bit nervous because his expression changed, letting her know he was going to be on good behavior. She tilted her head back slightly as he began lowering his towards hers, their eyes locked. Sam was vaguely aware of Daniel saying something but wasn't paying attention. She thought Teal'c maybe told him to shut up, but wasn't sure.

Finally, Jack's lips pressed into hers, firm, moist, and warm. They stood, frozen and fused together for several long moments in a kiss full of affection but appropriate for all audiences, even Jaffa warriors and nosey archaeologists. Then she felt his lips curl up into a smile against hers and inhaled sharply as she realized what he was about to do a second before he did it. The kiss that was soft and tender one second was hard and demanding in the next, and Daniel and Teal'c were completely forgotten.

Jack swept his tongue across her lips, sucking them into his mouth and nipping at them in turn. She leaned into him further, wrapping her arms around him and eliminating the remaining space between their bodies. He shifted his hips slightly, the contact making her gasp into his mouth. He in turn laughed into hers, prompting her to do the same. Sam randomly thought that it should be illegal to feel so good, the thought occurring to her a split second before she started kissing him back with a sudden urgency that surprised even herself.

"Holy crap," Daniel finally managed to say. Teal'c turned to his teammate with an eyebrow raised. Daniel had been staring at Jack and Sam with his mouth wide open for several long moments, becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the show they were putting on but just as incapable of tearing his eyes away.

Teal'c gripped his shoulder tightly and said, "Perhaps we should retire for the evening, Daniel Jackson. Especially if O'Neill intends to awaken us at dawn. Come." He gave Daniel the nudge he needed to get his feet moving.

Once they were out of the kitchen and Daniel's head had cleared somewhat, he said, "Yeah, how much do you want to bet Jack lets us sleep as late as we want tomorrow?"

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Jack and Sam pulled apart to breathe, pressing their foreheads together and breathing heavily. After a few seconds, Sam remembered Daniel and Teal'c. She mumbled, "Oh God," and turned to apologize to them, but they were gone. Even Maggie had left – they were completely alone in the kitchen and hopefully had been for some time.

Close to her ear, Jack quietly said, "Smart boys."

Her cheeks flushed and Sam said, "God, they're never going to let me live this down."

"Oh, come on, Teal'c's always kissing somebody in a much larger crowd, usually right in the middle of the gateroom. You know, I keep telling him how much it costs to keep that thing on but he doesn't care."

Sam laughed and said, "What about Daniel then?"

"You didn't see the security footage from his little Prometheus encounter with that alien chick?"

"Good point."

"You know what's weird?" Jack asked suddenly, smiling and not waiting for an answer. "This… isn't weird. Anymore."

She smiled back and nodded her agreement, going still as he carefully took the birthday tiara off of her head, trying not to pull her hair in the process. He leaned around her and set it on the counter next to the cake, still smiling, his eyes darting back to her lips and staying there.

"So. This'll be our first completely non-birthday sanctioned kiss, huh."

"Technically speaking, I guess," she agreed.

And then they brought their lips together in a new kiss that started all over again instead of just picking up where the last one had left off. It was long, moist, and open-mouthed, but not quite 'I'm-trying-to-crawl-inside-you' just yet. Sam moaned softly at the first slide of their tongues against each other, and he swallowed the sound up whole. His tongue stroked against hers slowly, and he was pretty sure his heart forgot to beat when he felt the tip of hers curl around his.

He splayed his fingers through her hair and tilted her head to the side to give himself better access to the unbelievable softness that was inside her mouth. He would have said that every year, their kiss had always been perfect. Maybe that was true, for those specific moments in time, when they knew full-well that they were dipping into very dangerous and murky waters, but this was so much better. No bittersweet aftertaste, just Sam, chocolate, and a little bit of coffee.

When he needed oxygen, he breathed in hard through his nose in long, ragged inhales, and when he found a new place he had yet to explore, he gave it the kind of thorough attention she gave to new alien doohickeys. When she abruptly broke off the kiss after what seemed like forever, he felt as if he was having a limb torn off for a few seconds, until he remembered he didn't have to wait another year to do that again anymore; he just had to let her catch her breath.

"I could definitely get used to all these new traditions," Sam finally said, brushing her lips against his as she spoke.

"Yeah, me too," Jack agreed. "But I'm thinking this is going to be less of a tradition and more like a… habit."

"Hmm. A habit, huh? What's the difference there?"

"Dunno. We can always ask Daniel."

"Kay," Sam agreed. "Tomorrow."

He nodded and brushed her mouth again with his quickly before saying, "I've always loved the way you think. Come on. I'll ask Daniel when I wake him up in the morning. And before you start trying to tell me we should all sleep away the best fishing hours _again… _just remember how important it is to keep up traditions. _And _habits."

Sam laughed and pressed her forehead to his shoulder briefly as they left the kitchen, flipping the lights off on their way out. "Far be it from me to alter any of your habits or traditions."

"You sure?" Jack asked, pulling her closer in a quick squeeze. "Because I'm not saying it would work or anything, but I'd be willing to let you try to convince me."

"Oh brother," Sam muttered.

The end.


End file.
